


A PUNderSwap TAIL

by Anjel_X



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underswap (Undertale), Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Found Family, No Smut, Original Character(s), Underswap Papyrus (Undertale), Underswap Sans (Undertale)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:27:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 32,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23332375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anjel_X/pseuds/Anjel_X
Summary: Stretch just wanted to go to Muffet’s Pastry Parlor and Bar and relax with some of the special Honey she made. His little bro was hanging out with Alphys and Undyne, so he could get away with a quiet, uneventful evening.... or at least that was the plan...
Kudos: 5
Collections: unaVOIDable resPUNSibilities





	1. SWEET, some lost and found

Papyrus, though he preferred to be called his nickname ‘Stretch’, was craving some of Muffet’s special honey. He’d been having some bad nightmares lately and he could use something to ease his nerves. He knew his little bro, Sans… or Blueberry… Blue for short, was hanging out with Alphys and Undyne tonight for a sleepover once his patrol was over. The perfect time to head over with his little brother none the wiser to him going out drinking. Just a quick shortcut to the alley next to it and no one would even see him leave the house. As long as he didn’t get too drunk for him to get home on his own, Muffet wouldn’t need to call anyone to pick him up. His new nightmares had him… _heh_ … rattled more than usual since they weren’t the ones he normally had.

A few days previous there was a surge at the CORE and the next time he took a long distance shortcut, he swore he saw something in the void. It was a much further one than he usually took so he was in there a few seconds longer than normal. Long enough for his nerves to get riled up and ever since he kept dreaming about getting stuck there. He always wondered if that was where the old Royal Scientist, Dr. River, ended up after that experiment went wrong years ago… he thought he remembered that was something the guy was researching and at one point wanted him to help with his research after somehow finding out about his shortcuts. He was glad his dad wasn’t interested in working at the Labs and was happy enough to just be the ferryman between Snowden and New Home. Granted Dingbats Aster’s work hours were lousy and he really didn’t get days off to spend with his boys, but it was a safer job than working at the CORE.

_wonder if dad ate today… he can be a bit scatterbrained and forget to bring anything with him to eat… I’d check but who knows where he is on his route right now… ‘m too lazy to check the whole route right now… hopefully Blue made him something before he left for the day…_

Patting the pockets of his khaki cargo shorts and eventually finding his cell phone in the pocket of his familiar orange hoodie, he brought up his dad’s contact number and sent him a text. _don’t need dad to end up nothing but skin and bones, heh_

 **honey4nothing:** yo dadster… u eat 2day

 **dingaling:** Yes?

 **honey4nothing:** ur sposed 2 answer the question

 **honey4nothing:** not question the answer

 **dingaling:** OK wise con-fuse-us

 **honey4nothing:** u want somethin from muffs

 **dingaling:** do not

 **dingaling:** one sider

_my bro must be snooping on dad again if he’s using his code… doesn’t help he leaves his phone everywhere and never bothered to set up a lock screen… lazy bones… nyeh heh heh_

**honey4nothing:** k

 **honey4nothing:** where u @ btw

 **dingaling:** ur fave hot spot

 **dingaling:** with apples

 **honey4nothing:** k

 _Of course he’s in hotland… heh… and near the CORE…_ Scraping his phalanges down his face, he put his well-worn orange hi-tops on. He took a shortcut to Muffet’s Pastry Parlor and Bar to pick up his dad’s order first since he knew where he was right at the moment. That and it was easier to shortcut home while tipsy than anywhere else. Less bystanders to witness any bad landings, too. Landing in the alley next door to his favorite hangout, he sauntered through the door with a little jingle of the bell above.

“…’sup muffet…” he said to the petite spider monster with a lazy wave of his hand. She was dressed as she usually was, a crisp white blouse paired with freshly pressed purple slacks and matching vest. Small rectangular glasses perched in front of her two biggest eyes and her hair pulled up into two short pigtails tied with purple bows.

 _ahu hu hu_ ~ “ _Good evening, Papyrus dear. What will **you** be **purchasing** today._” She signed with two of her many hands.

Scratching the back of his neck, he shuffled a bit _trying to get me to pay my tab, huh_ “well… first I’m doin’ a _flavor_ for my old man… a spider donut and a spider cider to go… i’ll get his payment when i drop it off… you know he’s good for it…” He attempted to give her the ‘puppy dog’ eyes, his bright blue-eyelighted little brother was so good at, with his own orange eyelights.

Muffet gave the lanky skeleton a suspicious glare as she prepared the order as she signed again. “ _He better not have forgotten his wallet again, dearie… it would be a shame for him to get sick from my generosity._ ” _ahu hu hu_ ~ She teased with a wink of three of her eyes.

“i’ll be right back…” Stretch grabbed the takeout and stepped out into the alley again, promptly taking a shortcut to where his dad said he was waiting.

“Ahhhh… my favorite son! You’re a life saver!” His childish father made grabby hands at the bag while leaning out of the boat. He was wearing one of his hideous tropical print button-up shirts, paired up with Bermuda shorts and a worn out pair of sandals with socks. He was never confused with being fashionable.

Keeping the bag out of arms reach… not that Dings couldn’t use blue magic to bring it over… Stretch chuckled “…nah… ya gotta pay up first, pops… that and i think a certain little blue ball of energy would be pretty upset you said that…”

Rolling his heterochromatic orange and blue eyelights, he mumbled “…uh… I lost my wallet?”

With a deadpanned stare, he looked at his father and huffed “suuuuuure ya did… just like the last time ya said that aaaannnnnd….” With a bit of blue magic, a familiar wallet came floating out of his father’s pocket. “well… would ya lookit that… i found your wallet…”

 _Stupid annoying lie detecting magic bullcrap… that excuse woulda worked on your brother…_ With a sigh, he snatched his wallet from his eldest son and handed over the G for the food. “You’re no fun you spoilsport…” With a pout, he grabbed his order and started eating. “It’s like you don’t trust your own father or something…”

Holding up a phalange “one… you know i _hate_ being near the core… makes my magic feel weird… and second…” Deftly plucking a spider from his hood, he held it in the palm of his hand and showed it to his father “…more like someone sent a debt collector with me since _someone_ is such a cheapskate…” The spider promptly turned around and stuck an accusing front leg at him. Looking at the spider he, smirked “…at least she trusts _me_ with a tab… unlike some _other_ skeleton she knows…” The spider promptly tapped his hand and then turned back around, pointing to the half-eaten food. “yeah, yeah… i’m goin’… see ya later, pops.” With a lazy salute, he went to take a shortcut back to Muffet’s.

Just as he stepped into the void, there was a surge from the CORE. Normally he had gotten lucky and he was never taking a shortcut during a surge, but his luck ran out this time. That and the fact he was so close to the CORE itself, it had an even bigger impact on his magic this time. He felt like he was stuck in the void for a moment and just as panic was about to set in, he looked up to see someone or some _thing_ smaller than his brother curled up in front of him. The magic signature it gave off was dangerously faint. He grabbed it as he floated by, right before he finally came out the other side of his shortcut. He landed painfully on the ground in a daze and almost slammed into the side of the familiar building.

The startled spider jumped off of him and scurried back to Muffet to alert her of the status of her favorite customer. Luckily not having any customers at the moment, Muffet ran out the door as quickly as her short legs could carry her. Signing as fast as she could she ‘asked’ “ _Are you alright, dearie? The power flickered for a moment and then I heard the noise outside. My precious little one told me that you had Mr. Aster’s payment, but that something was wrong._ ”

As Stretch groaned from the splitting headache he had, he thought _leave it to muffet to be worried about her payment first over the health of her customer_ Opening an eye socket, he blearily looked down with an unsteady orange eyelight and remembered he had another problem. Pulling a small blanket out of his inventory and wrapping the apparently naked monster, he then turned his head “hey, muff… don’ worry… ‘bout me… at the moment… this little one… needs help…” Turning around and looking at the spider monster with pleading orange eyelights and trying not to pass out from the disruption and strain of his magic.

Muffet suddenly went wide-eyed… granted she hated when anyone called her a nickname… but Papyrus was rarely serious unless something was dire… especially if it involved his younger brother or an injured child. She signed “ _Quickly follow me upstairs to my apartment…_ ” Then quietly calling out to her spiderlings in their whispered language “ _Please look after the shop while I help with this emergency, dearies. I may need a few of you to help with supplies._ ” Noticing that Stretch was barely able to walk, she gently took the bundled monster into her many arms. She knew she was a rather short and slender monster, but the little one seemed to weigh almost nothing and was even smaller than she was. _Poor little dear may even be a child, but it’s hard to tell if they are still in stripes until we get them settled upstairs._

As soon as Stretch stumbled into Muffet’s apartment, he immediately collapsed in a chair. As much as he wanted to just pass out on the couch, he knew it would be needed for the mystery monster he’d found. He’d noticed right away the poor thing had no clothing on which was why he pulled the fluffy, orange throw blanket out of his inventory right away. The blanket was too short to cover his long limbs when he was _heh_ … stretched out, but it was more than enough for their small form… _it’s a good thing my bro insists on being prepared for anything… my vision was too blurry to get a good look at them though._

“ _Here you go, Papyrus dear._ ” Muffet signed with a pair of hands while she handed him some food with extra healing to help keep him with from passing out in case she needed him for anything. “ _I will put that on your tab, but I do still need the payment for your father’s order, of course_.” _ahu hu hu_ ~ She held out her hand for the payment while Stretch rolled his orange eyelights and passed her the G. “ _Now that I won’t have to worry about you passing out, I can check on our little guest._ ”

Stretch got up a little unsteadily, but much better than before, and stood behind the couch. He kept his hands on the back of the couch in case he felt like he was going to fall over. Muffet wouldn’t want to have to worry about picking his lazy coccyx up off of her floor while checking on someone that may be in much worse shape. Who knew how long this poor monster was floating in the void let alone how they even ended up there in the first place. He couldn’t exactly tell her how he found them or even where for that matter. “i literally ran into them on my way back here… got no idea who they are or where they came from…” _hope that’s enough to keep her from asking any other questions_

As Muffet carefully unwrapped the soft blanket, they both gasped at what they saw. The small monster was barely breathing, filthy, and covered in bruised ecto-flesh. The ecto-flesh was a faint purple and looked as if it was barely holding its form. Looking at the fact that the top of their head was covered in ecto hair, it was most likely they were female. Stretch noticed that Muffet had quickly re-covered their… her torso, while blushing slightly, so she must’ve come to this conclusion as well. She also seemed to have ecto-flesh in the shape of cat ears on her head… he could just hear Undyne squealing about her favorite kissy whatever anime… but the most shocking thing was the fact that under the ecto… they were a skeleton monster.

Muffet looked up at Stretch for a moment in disbelief and signed slowly “ _I thought that you, your younger brother, and your father were the only skeletons left…_ ”

“…we are… and the last _actual_ female skeleton was… was my… mom…” Skeleton monsters could form whatever genitalia they wanted with ecto magic, but male and female skeletons were born with slightly different bone structures. It was easy to tell if you knew what to look for, though highly inappropriate unless you were at least datemates or a medical professional. Granted that knowledge was pretty much forgotten due to the lack of skeleton monsters in the first place. As Stretch looked on in shock, Muffet sighed and handed him a bottle of her special honey. He automatically accepted it and took a long drink. “thanks…”

“ _I think I may need a drink after this as well, but I do think you need it much more than me right now, dearie._ ” She signed with a sigh.

As Stretch studied her closer, from what little of her he could see, her skeletal structure looked very slender, much like his own, rather than thick boned like his brother. Her skull shape and features were more rounded like Blue’s, maybe a little thinner, and she definitely looked to be shorter than him as well. It was disturbing that she wasn’t wearing anything… except some kind of wide metal collar. It didn’t look like a pet collar, it was more technological. Before he could stop her, Muffet went to touch it and immediately pulled back from an electrical shock. The unconscious monster twitched a moment from apparently receiving a shock as well. “…that’s definitely not normal… who would do this to a fellow monster…” He shook his head and looked up at Muffet’s watery eyes. As cold-hearted as she might seem, she was far from it… as long as you were on her good side.

“ _We need to get that dreadful thing off of her… maybe one of my spiderlings are small enough to get a wire loose._ ” She signed as she wiped one of her many eyes.

“…i …don’ know if that’s a good idea… don’ want any of them to get dusted by it… it seems to be infused with a lot of negative intent. at least you have a high hp so that wasn’t quite as… _shocking_ to you…” As he winked at Muffet, he noticed he could sense the possessive Intent infused in it of /MINE/WORTHLESS/MINE/PROPERTY/MINE/ radiating from it when he got close to it. That thing had to come off as soon… and safely… as possible. But how…

Muffet put some of her hands on her hips and signed “ _Well we can’t just leave it on her either, dearie._ ”

Scraping his phalanges down his face, he took a long drink of the honey, pulled out a pair of electrical insulated gloves, some small tools, and some strange looking cloth from his inventory, “well… i _do_ know a bit about working on electronics… maybe i can at least shut it down…” She didn’t need to know how much he knew or that he had a degree in electrical engineering.

“ _Papyrus, dear… what happens to you if **you** make a mistake… you know I don’t like to remind you about your low HP. I would hate for anything to happen to you… you are not permitted to get dusted before you pay off your tab._” She quickly signed with a huff while glaring at him.

With a smirk, he moved to the other side of the couch “yeah, yeah… i’ll just make my old man pay it off if i dust myself.”

“ _That just instills me with such confidence in your skills, dearie._ ” She signed with another huff while trying to hide a grin.

“…anyway… can you lift her head up a bit without touching the collar so i can get a better angle at it?” He knew he’d be working on this for a long period of time and he didn’t want to get his joints cramped up while trying to do delicate electrical work.

“ _I can do much better than that, dearie._ ” Muffet signed and then strung some webs from the ceiling and used them to cradle the small monster, mid-air.

“thanks, muffet… this might make it easier…” Taking a deep, unnecessary breath for his nonexistent lungs, he put on the protective gloves, carefully encased the collar in blue magic, and gently placed some non-conductive filter cloth in the small space between her neck and the collar. _i hope this is enough to protect her in case it set it off… the bulky gloves’ll make it hard for any fine work… but it’s better than having a **shocking** , heh, experience…_

He placed a few of the tools he’d need eventually between his teeth, readied the ones he needed now, and attempted to work on a small panel he found. _i’m glad I had my non-conducting tool kit with me today… or more like i was too lazy to put it away after i used it last week… i really hope i can at least shut this thing down… maybe i should get undyne’s help… she might have a better idea on what this thing is… but that would mean alerting my bro and alphys… and i’m not about to take undyne and alphys through a shortcut… they don’t need to find out about that… if dad is still on that end of the underground, he could bring them here… that would take a while…_

“ _Papyrus, dear…_ ” Muffet signed after tapping him on the shoulder, trying not to startle the skeleton while he was obviously beginning to have an anxiety attack “ _Do you think that perhaps we should contact Dr. Undyne to help with such a delicate situation?_ ”

“she prob’ly wouldn’t get here ‘til morning anyway and my bro’s visiting her so i can always send a text to have her come home with him to do a check-up then… and make sure dad is available to pick them up… lemme see if i can at least get it turned off… then we can try to get her cleaned up without her gettin’ zapped…” Setting his tools down on another scrap of anti-static cloth, he took a few unneeded breaths and took another swig of the honey to calm his nerves. Taking off his gloves, he then pulled out his phone to send a few quick messages through his families’ group text.

 **honey4nothing:** taking care of a small emergency at muffs b4 u ask not in a fight and not drunk

 **honey4nothing:** found injured monster in alley on the way to muffs

 **honey4nothing:** bro bring dyne with medical checkup stuff when u come home in morning

 **honey4nothing:** dad get with blue find out when you can meet for pickup

 **honey4nothing:** putting phone on silent for some delicate work c u @ home in morning

He put his phone down on a nearby end table so it didn’t accidently get zapped. He was sorely tempted to do a check on the monster to make sure she wasn’t Falling Down, but didn’t want to be invasive. He couldn’t exactly ask permission and he didn’t want Muffet to question what he was doing. Though when he tried holding the collar with blue magic earlier, he could feel some kind of feedback… like he had to keep pushing more magic due to it dispelling or something. _i wonder if it messes with magic too… like it cancels it out or blocks it… that would explain why her ecto magic seems so weak… that or too long in the void…_

Placing one of her hands on his shoulder, Muffet gave it a reassuring squeeze. “ _Do you need anything else, Papyrus dear?_ ”

Taking another deep breath in his nonexistent lungs, he looked at the worried spider monster “…nah… i’m good… just needed a moment… just make sure you and your spiders don’t get too close in case this goes south…” As much as he wanted a cigarette right now, he opted to pop a honey flavored sucker in his mouth instead. After Muffet stepped back, he put his gloves back on, picked up his tools again, and got back to work. He really needed a nice long nap, but this was more important… and it’s not like he hasn’t ever pulled an all-nighter before.

>^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^<

At some point he realized that Muffet must’ve gone downstairs and closed up for the night. There was a leftover spider donut on a plate and some cider next to him. _almost got it deactivated… this thing is pretty complex… someone really went out of their way to keep her under control… i hope i’m right that the person who did this is a piece of trash and that this isn’t on her for good reason…_

An unexpected ‘click’ sound startled him out of his thoughts as he realized the collar finally deactivated and a seam became noticeable on the back. Setting his tools back down, he gently removed the offending device and placed it safely into an anti-static bag he had for sensitive computer parts. Before putting it away in his inventory for Undyne to look at later, he took one last offended look at it. There seemed to be something engraved in it, though it was partially filled with dirt and grime of questionable types. He could just make it out, cursing whoever this was that did this, and then angrily put it away.

**PROPERTY OF WDG**

**RETURN IMMEDIATELY IF FOUND**


	2. finder's keepers, LOOSER

While munching on the spider donut that was left for him, Stretch took a glance around the room a moment until he noticed Muffet half asleep in a nearby chair. He hated to wake her but it was safer for her to work with her webs to set the small monster back on the couch. He’d probably end up breaking the wrong one and having to grab her with blue magic before she fell. He was too tired for that. Gently tapping the spider monster on the shoulder he attempted to wake her without startling her into attacking. “…hey, muffet… i got the collar off so you can put her down now…”

Muffet startled a moment and had started to ready her magic, but calmed down when she registered what was said to her. She yawned and signed “ _Sorry, Papyrus dear… I must have dozed off for a moment. You said that you removed that dreadful device? You know… I had total faith in you, dearie._ ” _ahu hu hu_ ~

While discreetly rolling his eyelights, he reminded her “you can let her down now… she pob’ly wouldn’ like waking up wrapped in webs.”

“ _If you say so, dearie._ ” She signed with a wink of half her eyes while she made quick work of getting her webs off the small monster and setting her back down on the couch. “ _I think she would very much appreciate getting cleaned up. Perhaps a quick bath might be in order. I would ask for your assistance, Papyrus dear, but I believe that may be a bit… inappropriate… even if she **is** a skeleton monster._”

Stretch immediately blushed orange and looked away as Muffet winked again and grinned, signing “ _You know I am just teasing you, dearie._ ” She then quietly asked some of her spiderlings to start a shallow bath while she looked for some old clothes that didn’t fit her anymore that might instead fit her small guest. After the warm bath was ready, clothes found, and soft fluffy towels ready, she carefully picked her up and headed to the bathroom. “ _No peaking_ ~” she teased again.

Stretch shook his head and checked his phone, turning the sound back on. It was mostly messages between his little bro and their dad about pickup times in the morning, so nothing he really needed to respond to. He felt better telling them about it when they all got home and he had at least gotten a nap. He was pretty sure that Captain Alphys would let them have a day or two off after Undyne got done with the checkup. He noticed when Muffet had picked her up, she had showed no signs of waking or even responding unconsciously in her sleep. That was never a good thing, but maybe she just needed cleaned up, food of some kind, and time to recover her magic without that collar on. After finishing the donut and cider Muffet had left him, he sat down on a chair to take a quick, _heh_ , cat nap.

>^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^<

Muffet gently wrapped the now clean and clothed monster back up like swaddling a baby. The blanket that Stretch had provided was soft and the perfect size for her. She seemed to prefer curling up in a fetal position, especially when wrapped up in a soft towel or blanket. Muffet still wasn’t certain she was a child or not and had no way of telling the age of skeleton monsters. Blue was much smaller than Stretch, but was only a few years younger and not a child, though he certainly looked and at times acted like one. They were just different body types, Stretch obviously took after their father and she could only guess that Blue took after their mother. That might explain why he had seemed so worked up when he first fully saw her. It’s possible she might be reminding him of his mother considering the little one’s body type. With an exhausted sigh, Muffet carefully brought her back to the couch and placed her back down and tapped Stretch’s shoulder

Stretch’s eyes flew open as he was startled awake, wondering where he was for a moment. Eyelights landing on Muffet and the small bundle wrapped in a familiar orange blanket, he calmed down and rubbed the back of his neck. “sorry… needed a little nap… you should get some sleep since ya gotta open the shop in the morning. How’s she doin’ by the way?”

She signed once she was certain he was paying attention. “ _I am done giving the little one her bath and found something for her to wear for now. She is still unconscious, though she twitched at first when I started to bathe her. She relaxed once she seemed to realize she was safe. I am quite certain the warm bath was very calming as I attempted to be as gentle as possible and she seems much more relaxed now. She is quite adorable, especially wearing the cute little outfit I found for her._ ” _ahu hu hu_ ~ She blushed a little as she gently stroked the top of the little one’s head.

Taking a closer look at the sleeping bundle, he noticed that her ecto created ears and hair looked much more solid now. _her magic must be stabilizing a bit… guess i was right… that collar **was** a magic suppressor… _“so… adorable ya say, huh? hope whatever ya picked out was appropriate…” He gave Muffet a sly wink and smirked.

Muffet shooed him away with some of her hands on her hips while signing “ _Now, now, dearie. Just leave her alone and let her rest. You can see when she wakes up. Now I must get my beauty sleep or I will look simply dreadful in the morning. You don’t want me to be cranky towards my customers, do you? Now I am off to bed, and you and the little one may stay the night if needed so you are rested enough to travel home in the morning. I don’t need my spiderlings to find you passed out in a snowpoff._ ”

“…thanks, Muffet… i think i _will_ take you up on that offer… i’ll just check what time my bro and the doc will be home and set my alarm.” He picked up the empty plate and cup and took them to the sink to quickly wash.

Following him and tapping on the arm, she signed “ _You didn’t need to do that, Papyrus dear. Try to get some rest and if you have not left yet when I open up shop, I shall send you off with something for breakfast._ ”

“…you tryin’ to rack up my tab even higher?”

“ _Nonsense, dearie. I just wish to make certain the good doctor isn’t distracted by hunger and there is something for the little one to eat when she awakes. I am rather concerned about some injuries I noticed, especially on her neck. All I ask is that she is safe and healthy… you will keep me informed on how she is doing, right? Or do I need to send my pet to keep an eye on things._ ” _ahu hu hu_ ~ She gave Stretch a deathly serious look before yawning and getting ready to head to her bedroom. “ _Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the Temmie bite_ ~”

Stretch sat back down and checked his phone for any new messages as well as double check what time he needed to shortcut home with his passenger. It looked like he would have time to get some breakfast to go before everyone got back to the house. Apparently his dad actually got someone to cover for him so he could help Blue carry whatever supplies Undyne will be bringing.

Doctor Undyne didn’t do well in the snow and freezing temperatures and Snowden had plenty of both. She preferred Waterfall, but was forced to be in Hotland due to the Labs being there. She did worse in the heat so it was a big deal if she ever left her perfectly air conditioned lab. Though there was an exception when it came to Captain Alphys… she would _always_ do whatever the muscular lizard wanted, especially if it involved anime.

With a sigh he wondered if it was a good idea to sleep or not. What if she woke up and got scared? He suddenly realized there was a spider dangling in front of his face, trying to get his attention. It used two of its right legs to ‘point’ to its eyes and then point them at the sleeping monster. Then it pointed at Stretch and then took a left and right front ‘leg’ and put them on the side of its head while tipping it.

“…so you’re sayin’ that you’ll keep an eye on her and that i can get some sleep?”

The spider nodded and then made its way over to the couch, watching from the armrest by her head.

Stretch drug a foot rest over to the chair he was sitting in, set the alarm on his phone, and tried to get comfortable. Not that he couldn’t fall asleep in some weird places, he was still a bit worried about her waking up as well as everyone’s reactions in the morning. Well that was something for future Stretch to worry about…

>^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^<

Stretch woke up to the smell of fresh baked goods right before his alarm went off. Standing up and, _heh_ , stretching his limbs, he glanced over to the couch. It didn’t look like the small monster moved at all and the spiderling was still on the arm of the couch. He placed the nearby box of spider donuts and the carrier of spider cider into his inventory and stepped towards the couch. “let muffet know i’m up and headed out with our ‘guest’now.” It waved at him and crawled away to let Muffet know what was going on. Before he could pick up his ‘passenger’, his phone pinged with a message.

 **dingaling:** Just left ferry U there yet?

 **honey4nothing:** on the way now +1

 **honey4nothing:** \+ free donuts and cider

 **dingaling:** stars bless that spider

 **dingaling:** w8 free? scared now

 **honey4nothing:** ikr talk 2 u when u get there

Putting his phone away, he picked up the sleeping bundle and left Muffet’s apartment. Making sure he was out of sight, he took a shortcut back to the house he shared with his dad and little brother. _should i set her up on the couch or one of the bedrooms… i don’t mind sleeping on the couch but my room’s not… tidy… not gonna kick Blue outta his room… maybe dad’s room… wish we had a guest room… welp… i’ll just put her on the couch for now…_

He gently laid her on the couch and proceeded to go into the kitchen and pull the donuts and cider out of his inventory. Setting them on counter and pulling out a honey glazed one and a cider for himself, he sat down on the couch as there was room next to her small curled up form. He had to remember to make sure that his bro got the two donuts that were wrapped differently. He was very thankful Muffet remembered about Blue’s little… issue… with too much sugar.

He looked down to the sleeping bundle, getting a better look now that her magic was stabilizing. Her ecto formed ears looked… fuzzy… like they were covered in soft fur. _huh… that’s pretty neat…_ Stretch fought the urge to touch her ears… as much as he _really_ wanted to pet them. Her teeth weren’t bare, they were mostly covered by ‘lips’ with the exception of a sharp looking top right fang that peeked out. The color of the ecto was still light colored, but not as faint and see through in some areas. Most of it was a light purple, but there seemed to be some little accents of a faint green color. Before the urge to touch her ears came back, he heard someone talking outside. He quickly covered her up further in the blanket to protect her from any cold wind that might blow in through the door, then took a shortcut the small distance to the front door to let them in.

“…mornin’… there’s donuts and cider in the kitchen. how ‘bout we eat first… there’s some… _things_ i need to tell all of ya first.” After everyone took their shoes off, he tried his best to herd the doctor and the two skeletons into the kitchen without them getting a good look at the couch.

Dings eyed the food suspiciously “Are you sure it isn’t poisoned? You said it was free… from Muffet… that’s more than a little bit suspicious…”

“…she said she didn’t want the doc passing out from hunger while helping and that there needed to be something for the… uh… patient to eat when they woke up. something about getting first dibs on a new customer… that and to keep her updated on their condition. she seemed to be acting a bit… overprotective to them…”

Before Blue could grab a random donut, Stretch handed him one of the ones that were… safer… for him to eat. He was still wearing his usual blue and grey outfit along with his blue gloves and favorite blue scarf around his neck. With a pout, he took the offered donut and one of the ciders. “THAT DOESN’T SOUND…”

Stretch quickly shushed him and continued “…they need to rest so, no offence bro, please talk a bit quieter. i think you’ll understand when i explain what happened… that and when you see them… oh and Undyne… please keep it down too… before you argue, just trust me and keep professional.”

Undyne, still partially bundled up over her white lab coat, rolled her eyes. “I a-am a-always pr-professional.” She adjusted her glasses and patted her red hair to check her bun.

“well… hate to say i told you so… but you’ll see. anyway… long story short they ended up unconscious in the alley next to muffets… i was the first to find them and muffet rushed us up to her apartment to help them. they’re smaller than you, bro and we don’t know if they’re still in stripes or not.”

Talking a bit closer to an ‘indoor voice’, Blue looked a bit puzzled “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON’T KNOW IF THEY ARE IN STRIPES OR NOT?”

Stretch shuffled a bit, looking a little embarrassed and blushed a bit. “…uhhh… they… they didn’t have any… uh… clothes on…” he mumbled the last part while rubbing the back of his neck, but the reactions the others had proved they still heard him just fine. “…before you yell, i had a blanket in my inventory and wrapped them up the second i realized…”

“WELL AT LEAST YOU LISTENED TO ME ABOUT EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS. BUT WHY WOULD THEY BE N-NAK… NOT BE DRESSED?” Blue looked pretty uncomfortable and was blushing a little as well.

“…when we got them in muffet’s apartment, we saw that there was some kind of metal collar around their neck… i think it’s a shock collar with some kind of magic suppression or negation built into it…” Looking at Undyne he noticed a flashing of several emotions running across her face. Fascination, revulsion, confusion, and back to fascination. He could tell she really wanted to experiment on the collar, but there was time for that later. “…hey doc… do the initials WDG mean anything to you?”

The blue skinned fish monster looked puzzled and shook her head. Adjusting her glasses she stated “Sh-should I? Is that the o-one who m-made it?”

“…possibly… it was engraved on the collar along with a ‘property of’… like they were kept as some kind of pet or something… i managed to get it deactivated and taken off… pretty complicated… took me all night… it was infused full of negative and possessive Intent towards the wearer and whoever got nearby…” He needed to wrap this up in case she woke up while they were in the kitchen. Looking at the now upset monsters in the room, he continued “…before you think that’s unbelievable… it gets… i dunno if i should say worse or better… they were pretty filthy, like they hadn’t been cleaned in years… muffett took care of that when we realized they were female. the most shocking part of all of it… i’m pretty sure she’s… a skeleton monster…” He readied himself for any loud reactions he knew was coming.

The fish monster and two skeletons just stood there in shock. “B-but h-how is th-that possible?!? Aren’t you th-three the l-last ones?” Narrowing her eyes, she looked at the three others “Th-there’s n-nothing go-going on I’m n-not aware of is th-there?”

Stretch glared at her “no… nothing is ‘going on’ and if there was i wouldn’t tell you… i’m not adding to your shipping fodder for those ‘stories’ of yours…” he added air quotes to the last part. He glanced over at his brother and noticed his eyelights were completely blown out with the biggest stars possible while starting to vibrate. He quickly slapped a hand over his mouth before he started yelling anything.

Muffled by his older brother’s hand, he excitedly started rambling “OHMY _STARS_ DOESTHATMEANIHAVEALITTLE _SISTER_ WHAT’SHER _NAME_ WHATDOESSHELIKETO _EAT_ DOESSHELIKE _TACOS_ OHMY _GOSH_ WECOULDHAVEA _SLUMBERPARTY_ ISSHEMY _AGE_ …”

“…breath bro… yer gonna hyperventilate… i’m gonna uncover your mouth if you promise to calm down and stay quiet…” He felt him nod and slowly moved his hand away. He quietly explained “…she hasn’t woken up yet and only muffet got a good look at her so far. she was nice enough to find some old clothes to put on her after giving her a quick bath. She wrapped her back up in the blanket before they came back out to keep her warm.” He moved his attention to his dad when he heard a quiet sniffle.

“…another skeleton… _she’s_ a skeleton… we’re not the only ones left… what body type…” Before Dings could finish the question he saw his eldest twitch his head towards his youngest with a sad look in his eyes. He covered his mouth as a tear started to roll out of his eye socket.

Taking a calming breath, Stretch finished with “…this is the real reason why we don’t know how old she is just by looking at her… also she’s covered in ectoflesh that is still there after being unconscious and low on magic which is why i’m 100% sure she’s a she… muffet noticed… not me…” he added nervously. The last thing he wanted was to be accused of being a perv. “…she also said that she was pretty bruised up and was worried about an injury on her neck… well… we ready to go?” He asked as he looked at Undyne.

Taking off the rest of her winter gear so she was down to her lab coat, the fish monster gathered up her supplies and followed Stretch into the living room with the other two skeletons following close behind.

“…just a fair warning… muffet was raving about how ‘cute’ she was and picked out the outfit… soooooo…” he shrugged and started gently unwrapping the still sleeping skeleton monster. The second he got her completely uncovered, he blushed and immediately braced himself while face palming as he heard the high pitched squealing of the three monsters behind him. _stars damn it muffet… why…_ “…hey undyne… told ya so…”


	3. some doctors have no PATIENTS

As Stretch waited for the high pitched squealing to stop, he got a better look at their ‘guest’. She was definitely a Skeleton Monster and most of her body was covered in a nearly translucent, light purple ecto-flesh that looked almost like fur. The only parts he could see that were not covered were her face, part of her neck, and the tips of toes. She had slightly darker, ecto-formed cat paws covering her hands and feet, making it look like her sharp skeleton phalanges stuck out of them like retractable claws. Another thing that was causing some of the squealing was the fact that she had an ecto-‘fur’ covered skeletal tail that was twitching ever so slightly. All of her ecto-‘fur’, especially her tail, was accented with green stripes. The ecto-hair on her head was short, but fluffy, was a darker shade of mostly opaque purple than the rest, and also had a few strips of the same green color. Poking out of that ‘hair’ were two solid looking ecto-formed cat ears the shade and color as her ‘fur’ and were also starting to twitch.

 _i bet all the noise is starting to wake her up…_ He rolled his eyelights and cleared his nonexistent throat to try and get their attention.

The thing that was the most… eye-catching to the others had to be the outfit that Muffet had dressed her in. It was like a frilly summer dress, but too short since it didn’t completely cover the weird looking poofy shorts with elastic on the bottom of the legs. Her messy hair was kept out of her face by a wide ribbon, the same color of the outfit that was tied up in a big bow and trailed on the side. He could hear the other three saying things like ‘SO CUTE!’, ‘she’s… wearing… _loli bloomers_ ’, and ‘such a kawaii nekomimi~’.

Sadly, what he knew they didn’t notice yet was the damage that had been obviously done to her. Besides all the scuffs and bruising she had, especially on the exposed parts of her ecto-body, he noticed her malformed legs. He could just make out old scaring from breaks that didn’t heal properly as she grew. It looked like someone may have broken and reset her legs and feet to be more catlike at a young age as they were shorter than natural. _someone wanted her to look and walk like a cat and not a normal skeleton monster…_ He hoped she wasn’t still in pain from whatever ‘corrective’ surgery she had when she was young.

The other major injury he could see was the one Muffet had mentioned to him earlier. There was no way that could ever be considered ‘accidental’. The deep looking scar across the front of her neck looked rather deep and as old as it looked, he didn’t think it ever actually healed. He realized he never saw it at first because it was covered by the collar… he was pretty sure it wasn’t caused by that since it looked like it was from a sharp object like a knife. She didn’t have any ecto-fur covering that area and he was thankful the injury hadn’t gone so far into the bone that it severed her spine.

>^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^<

Stretch cleared his non-existent throat again, rubbed the back of his spine, and stepped in front of the excited trio. “i think all of your fangirling is waking up the ‘patient’… just sayin’…” That seemed to get their attention this time. His little bro still had huge stars for eyelights along with still vibrating a bit. His dad was covering his mouth, but still had a giddy look on his face, and Undyne had a goofy grin as she tried to get herself looking professional again.

Taking a deep breath, Dr. Undyne pulled a few items out of her inventory, including a handheld scanner to do a less invasive CHECK. She listened closely to what the tall Skeleton brother was telling her about the injuries he noticed. She would have most likely missed some of the issues with her legs since she was not that well versed with Skeleton anatomy. Dings also took a closer look and agreed that it looked like someone did some sloppy alterations to the shape and length of her legs and feet. She nearly forgot that he had studied some sciences, possibly a type of medical science from the sounds of it, but had never pursued them for some reason.

Dings eyelights had a very rare seriousness to them and his usual goofy grin turned sad as he agreed with his eldest son. “Her femurs all the way down to her metatarsals have been altered to be feline-like. They would’ve needed to… shorten… her femurs and extend her tarsals… I wonder if she can even stand up on two legs… the way she’s curled up, her spine must be very flexible… not to mention her functioning tail…” He saw the ecto-fur covered skeletal tail twitching again. “That would be incredibly hard to create… so that might actually be a natural part of her…” He had another thought, but decided to stay away from that saying it… he felt he said too much in front of Undyne as it was… he was not about to be forced to work in the Lab. There was a reason he didn’t flaunt his knowledge anymore after all.

“Th-thank you for that v-valuble in-information, Mr. Aster. I w-would’ve thought the sc-scaring was from an old i-injury and not from…” She paused and shuddered a bit. “…m-m-m-modification.” Flinching at the word, she pointed towards the neck injury. “W-what is y-your t-take on th-that?”

Dings got closer to her neck, but kept some distance in case she woke up since he didn’t want to startle her. “That looks… weird… not like any wound I’ve ever seen. It’s old, but not as old as the ones on the legs. I don’t understand why it didn’t heal… it’s like it can’t or something.” He slowly reached his hand towards her throat, but immediately pulled back with a hiss of pain. “…No wonder… whatever made that cut was full of a lot of Intent… and none of it good.” Turning to his oldest son “You said there was a collar around her neck when you found her?”

Stretch nodded and he readied himself to get a ‘feel’ of the same thing his dad just did. Pulling back just a fast, he shook his head. “…not the same intent… the collar was all about… hmmm… ‘ownership’… this feels more like…” He scratched his jaw a moment as he thought. “…i dunno… just isn’t the same thing…” He sighed as he stepped back again to give the Doctor more room. “…so what does your little gizmo say?”

Undyne adjusted her glasses and huffed. “My p-portable scanner will g-give me the r-results in a m-moment. Y-you can’t rush th-these things y-you know.” There was a quiet beeping sound from the machine. “Th-there we go… now I j-just need to b-bring up the results…” She tapped a few times on the screen as the two taller Skeletons looked over each of her shoulders and the shorter peeked from the side. “A-according to the s-scan her HP is only 1, but it is s-stable so she isn’t c-currently F-falling D-down. Her m-magic levels are p-poor as well… likely d-due to that c-collar you spoke of… I… I w-wouldn’t be s-surprised if her low s-stats are due to m-malnourishment as well.”

Blue looked at the screen with a puzzled look on his face and spoke a bit quieter than his normal volume “SHOULDN’T HER NAME BE ON HERE?”

“You are c-correct… but the o-only thing th-that is l-listed are ‘PET project’, ‘Property of Dr. WDG’, and ‘If found return immediately or be Dusted’…” She grimaced at that… even her information was modified to this WDG person’s liking. Whoever this so-called ‘doctor’ was, they were not going to get away with such a horrific act.

Blue looked up at Undyne, no longer having his usual star shaped eyelights, and actually whispered, “Do You… Do You Think That She Doesn’t Have A Name?”

“As m-much as I d-despise a-agreeing to th-that idea… I be-believe that may not be f-far from the t-truth…” She shook her head sadly.

Puffing himself up and his eyelights regaining their usual shape, Blue held up his finger and ‘quietly’ shouted “THEN I, THE MAGNIFICENT BLUE WILL PROMISE THAT BEFORE THE DAY IS OVER, SHE SHALL HAVE A WONDERFULL NEW NAME!”

Stretch patted his little brother on the skull with a fond look on his face. “…that’s a cool idea, bro… we can all help with that later.” He smiled at the quiet, but familiar ‘MWEH HEH HEH’ he heard from him. “…so what else, ‘dyne?”

“Sh-she has no EXP or LV… n-not that a-anyone sh-should n-normally have any… her DEF and ATK are only 1… p-poor thing… no w-wonder she is in such a bad c-condition.” Undyne really wanted to do various tests on her, but knew it would be unethical to do so without her permission. “I think she’ll do much better once we can safely give her some food. I would also like to run an IV drip of concentrated magic, but I do not want to run the risk of her panicking. Between it looking like she is slowly waking up and the fact it is so… _difficult_... to treat Skeleton Monsters…”

Dings chuckled at that “Yes, yes… you can’t exactly jab an IV into bones. For a Doctor… you do lack _patients_ …” He could hear Stretch holding in a laugh while Blue groaned.

Undyne simply rolled her eyes “Th-then what do y-you suggest? I g-get the feeling sh-she’s been traumatized e-enough… I refuse t-to add to it e-even if the end r-result helps her.”

Stretch walked over to the kitchen and came back with a spider donut in his hand. “…lemme try somethn’… can you three go to the kitchen or something… it might be better on her if there’s only one stranger in front of her when she wakes up…” The three of them made sure she wouldn’t see them, but they could still see most of what was going on. He sat down on the floor, next to her head, and held out the donut in front of her nasal area. He waved it back and forth while waving his other hand to fan the smell towards her. He noticed her nasal area was twitching a bit. “if any of you are good at projecting stuff like safety and calm… it might be helpful…” He spoke softly and calmly to her this time “…hey kiddo… you’re safe now… i got some yummy food for ya… ya gotta be hungry, right?”

He could see her ears twitching towards him and the lids of her eye sockets move a little. It was incredibly faint, but he swore he could hear a ‘sniffing’ sound, too. With one last flutter, he saw her eye sockets begin to open a little until he could just make out her hazy cat-like shaped eyelights. They looked like they might be heterochromatic like his dad, except they seemed to be purple and green whereas Dings had cyan and orange. She blinked her eye sockets a few times before she froze still, curled up tighter with her tail wrapped tightly around her small body, and breathing fast. Her ecto-ears were flattened back on her head, eye sockets wide open, and eyelights fully dilated in fear. She was staring straight at Stretch without blinking and he could see she was trembling.

Keeping his lanky body as low as he could, and making sure the others didn’t try to come closer, he held the donut in the palm of his hand and spoke to her calmly again. “…shhh shhh shhhh… it’s okay… nobody’s gonna hurt ya… i got some food for ya…” He saw her glance at it and back to him, but not moving towards it. He didn’t miss the quiet grumble of her stomach though. “…if you’re scared it’s not safe ta eat, i can take a small bite ta show ya.” He very slowly brought it up to his mouth and took a little bite while keeping eye contact with her. He hated treating her like a wild animal, but it was the safest option until she calmed down.

She continued to stare unblinkingly as he took a bite of the unfamiliar food in his hand. After he held it out to her with his outstretched hand, she stared at it for a moment before glancing at him and back again a few times. With a deep breath, she stared straight into his eyes and snatched the food as fast as she could with her ‘paws’. She took a small bite without breaking eye contact until suddenly her eyes dilated a different way. She had a very surprised look on her face as her green ecto-tongue blepped out a few times before scarfing the rest of it down.

Stretch tried not to flinch as the cat-like Skeleton snatched the donut from his hand. As he watched her try the food, he tried not to chuckle at her actions, silently praying to the stars that the three on the other side of the room didn’t start squealing again from seeing her stick her little tongue out. He didn’t want anyone to startle her now that she was slowly trusting him. He noticed as she ate, her teeth were very cat-like as well with cute little fangs peeking out. He swore he could hear a quiet purr as she licked her ‘lips’ a few times before licking her ‘paws’ while still keeping a close eye on him.

He realized she wasn’t curled up as tightly and her ears weren’t laid flat anymore, but swiveled back and forth. “…if you’re still nervous you can cover yourself back up with the blanket you’re on.” He saw her glance over and snag the soft orange blanket, snuggling under it until only her face peeked out as she continued to purr quietly. With a warm smile, Stretch calmly spoke to her again. “…the name’s stretch… i guess you could say that i’m the one that saved ya and took that nasty thing off your neck and gave ya that blanket.”

She blinked a moment before touching a curled up ‘paw’ to her neck with a puzzled look on her face. He ears swiveled a few times again before she stopped, sniffed the blanket, and then sniffed towards him. She rubbed her face on the blanket with a louder purr, but immediately froze still and looked at herself a moment. She stared at the clothing without making a sound.

“…don’ worry… i wrapped ya up with the blanket when i found ya… and a friend helped get ya some clothes… _she_ cleaned ya up too…” he made sure to stress that the one that cleaned her was female in case that was what she was concerned with. He noticed she calmed down at that and nuzzled the soft blanket again while starting to purr again. you’re at my house where i live with my dad and little brother… they’re here too, but i asked them to stay back so they didn’t scare ya.

She stilled again and began to sniff the air while her ears switched from lying flat, to rotating, and back again. … _crap… i need to distract her from panicking…_ “…did ya like that donut? i have more if you’re still hungry… nod if ya want another… shake your head if ya don’t.” Seeing her pause a moment, completely focus on him, and then nod slightly, he smiled again. “i can have my little bro bring one so you can meet him… that okay?” He could tell she was really thinking over the idea and he almost missed the slight nod as her stomach grumbled again.

Blue heard his brother mention about the donut and look up at him. After seeing his nod, he picked one up and tried to keep calm and quiet as he brought it over. He sat on the floor in front of the couch and slowly shifted over until he was next to him. He laid the donut on his hand like he saw Papy do, and tried to talk as quiet as he could. “Hello! You Can Call Me Blue! I Hope We Can Be Friends!” He finished with a cheerful smile and a sparkle in his eyelights.

Even though his little bro spoke quieter and calmer than he could ever remember, he still noticed that she flinched a bit when he spoke. She stared back and forth between him, his bro, and the food while her ears twitched constantly. After a moment of intense staring, she quickly snatched the donut out of Blue’s hand and pulled back under the blanket. Blue only partially muffed his squeal of delight as his starry eyelights sparkled brightly. There was a flinch under the blanket, but then came a muffled and content purring sound.

“…hey, bro… how ‘bout you scooch back a bit so she’s not so nervous.” He saw Blue nod, thankfully not upset about being told he was being to close. As cheerful as his little bro was, sometimes he had a little problem with understanding the concept of ‘personal space’. “…i hope ya liked the food… are ya thirsty?” He could make out a small nod under the blanket. “…is it okay if my dad brings it?” There were a few moments before he saw another slight nod. He looked up and nodded to his dad and looked back while he waited.

Dings thought a moment after he saw his oldest signal him to get their guest a drink. Milk was always appropriate with donuts and she _was_ cat-like after all. He poured some into a mug, though wondered if he should put it in a bowl instead. Grabbing one just in case, he made his way over as calmly as he could and sat down where his youngest was at first. Setting the bowl on the floor, he saw the raised eyebrow ridge on his oldest and simply shrugged. He held the mug in front of the small gap in the blanket and waited for a reaction.

A little bit of her face peeked out and after a quick sniff, she stuck her tongue out and lapped once at the milk. Stretch noted the smug look on his dads face and rolled his eyelights. “…let me put this in something that might be easier for you…” He pulled the mug away and took the empty bowl from his dad’s hand with a mock look of disgust. After pouring the milk into the bowl, he offered it again. “…here ya go…”

She quickly lapped up the milk with her little green ecto-tongue and then licked her teeth a few times when she was done. She slowly peeked out of the soft blanket to look at the newcomer and froze still again. Her ears were laid back again as she curled up tight, bared her sharp little teeth, and let out a small hiss. She shivered under the blanket as her breathing picked up speed and let out a few more warning hisses.

The two taller Skeletons stared at each other in confusion as to why she reacted like that. Dings tried not to look hurt, and spoke to her calmly “…I don’t know why you’re scared of me… I’d never do anything to hurt you…” He held his hand out, palm up, as that seemed to work when one of the canines got nervous. He noticed the hissing and trembling stopped for now and she started to poke her nasal area out from under the blanket. After a few sniffs, she poked her head out a little further as she stared at his bare hand with a puzzled look on her face. Her ears twitched as she stared at his face, back to his hand, and cocked her head to the side a little.

The three Skeletons looked at each other in hopes that one of them had any clue to her odd behavior. Obviously not since they all had the same lost look on their faces. Looking back, Dings noticed her trying to look at both sides of his hands. He held both of them up in front of her, showing her the fronts and backs. “…by the way… my name is Dingbats, but everyone just calls me Dings.” She stared at him with her ears turned forwards like she was listening to his voice very closely. She cautiously moved a curled up ‘paw’ out from the blanket and poked at the solid palm of his hand with confusion. Then she reached even further and poked at his cheek and opposite forehead like she thought something should be there.

Scratching his cheek bone a moment, Stretch wondered if it was possible she thought he looked like someone else. Not that there should be any other Skeletons around, though she definitely blew that theory out of the water. “…uuuuhhhhh… did you think my dad was someone else?” He noticed she froze again, but pulled her ‘paw’ back under the blanket and had a sheepish look on her face. He also noticed that she was blushing a little, each cheekbone matching her eyelight colors.

Sighing in relief with this information, Dings stated “It’s okay, kiddo… it was a mistake, that’s all. You’re prob’ly pretty worn out and you’ve obviously gone through a lot. I’m not mad at you and you’re still welcome to stay with us as long as you need.” He gave her a warm smile and put his hands back in his lap.

She blinked as her eyelights had a more relaxed look to them, though they were still shaped like a cat’s. Her ears were forward and attentive and she seemed to be relaxed under the blanket. She looked at each of them, though she seemed much more attentive towards Stretch. She rubbed her head on the soft material again with a purr right before letting out a big yawn.

Dings tried not squeal again at the cute site of her opening her mouth wide as her little fangs poked out and her tongue stuck out and curled. She even did that adorable stretch that cats did and he bet that Undyne was having a similar reaction. _Speaking of her…_ “I realize that Undyne is still waiting for her introduction yet.”

Stretch smacked his forehead with a loud ‘clack’ and grumbled “…sorry, ‘dyne…” while waving her over with his other hand. “…we have one other person here that was helping to make sure you were healthy… it was safer having her opinion on the matter since she’s a doc…tor…” He trailed off as he heard a loud hiss and growl-like sound as the cat-like Skeleton got in a defensive position.

She was obviously terrified for some reason… but was it another misunderstanding or something else…


	4. PAWS and effect

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and now to make up for the lack of puns in previous chapters....

Undyne went wide-eyed in shock as the small cat-like Skeleton was reacting like she was a threat. “W-w-what d-d-d-did I do?” She backed away in confusion as Stretch tried to calm her down while Blue and Dings rushed over to puller her to the kitchen.

Dings looked at her lab coat she usually wore when she was on duty. “If the person that we think… hurt her… was a doctor… maybe the white lab coat set her off…”

She nodded and removed her coat, placing it in her inventory so it was out of sight. She hoped that was all it was and she would calm down before she hurt herself. It was highly likely she wasn’t fully healed yet and she needed to get some rest.

Dings went to the doorway so his oldest could see him and made sure he had his attention. He ‘spoke’ in ‘hands’ or more commonly known as sign language, to relay what he and Undyne came up with. His youngest never had the knack to learn it, but his eldest was just as skilled as he was. There were very few monsters that ‘spoke’ that language besides them. He knew Muffet was one of those few, but he wasn’t sure who else did.

>^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^<

Stretch tried to calm the terrified Skeleton by speaking softly while his dad had made sure Undyne was out of site. He wanted to physically comfort her, but there was no way to know if that would help or just make things worse. Blue was a lot better at hugging and comforting than he was, he always felt he was too lanky and awkward, but she seemed to act calmer with him. It might be due to the fact that he was the one that saved her and was the first one to give her food. He still wasn’t sure how animal-like she was and he hated to treat her like one. He also noticed she really liked the fuzzy orange blanket he basically gave her. _…maybe if i wrap her up and hold her with it, she might calm down… i just hope i don’t make it worse…_

He glanced up when he heard a noise in the direction of the kitchen and saw his dad start signing at him. He nodded in understanding and held up his pointer finger to have them wait a moment for his idea. _…i hope that was all that set her off… need ta get her calmed down first…_ He slowly moved to the couch and sat down next to her as she stared at him with dilated eyelights, trembling body, twitching tail low, and breathing much too fast. Even though Skeleton Monsters technically didn’t need to breathe, they could still hyperventilate like any other Monster. He carefully grabbed an edge of the blanket with each hand, and slowly tried to wrap her in it while making shushing sounds.

She stared at him unblinkingly while he moved slowly and calmly, wrapping her in the soft familiar blanket. She was confused in her panicked state and didn’t understand what he was doing. He kept making ‘shhh’ sounds and talking to her with a quiet, low, and relaxed voice that made her feel a little sleepy. She let out a halfhearted ‘hiss’ and tried to swat at him with a curled up paw… not wanting to scratch the one that saved her. He chuckled a little and continued to wrap her up snuggly and discreetly shift her over to his lap. He wasn’t holding her so tight she couldn’t escape… it was… warm and cozy with the blanket wrapping around her.

Stretch could feel her small body relaxing little by little and she had stopped trembling and hissing for the most part. As he finished wrapping her up like a kitty burrito… heh… _purr_ ito… she started to breathe normally and her eyes were half closed. He tried wrapping most of her head as well to block out some of her vision in case Undyne wanted to leave. She made an annoyed sound, but let him as she rubbed her face on the blanket and started to purr quietly after letting out an annoyed huff. He was tempted to pet her head as well, but he was worried that might be pushing things a bit.

She relaxed and leaned against him as she was comfortably curled up in his lap… not sure when she ended up there. All she knew was it was warm, cozy, quiet, safe, and smelled nice. She could hear him humming something soothing and closed her eyes the rest of the way, lulled by the vibrations coming from his chest. It wasn’t purring, but it was almost as nice… even though it was muffled a bit by the safe blanket. She couldn’t quite remember why she got scared… didn’t matter as long as she was finally safe.

Stretch hated to bother her if she was starting to fall asleep, but he wasn’t sure if Undyne wanted to try and go near her again so soon. He carefully reached up his hands and craned his neck so he could see Dings who was still watching from the kitchen. He signed to him that maybe Undyne should try again another day when she was calmer. Especially since she wasn’t in any immediate danger health-wise. He saw his dad nod in agreement and sign back, asking is she was falling asleep, so Undyne could sneak past. He wrapped his arms back around her, feeling her relax again _didn’t realize she tensed up when i let go…_ and nodded. Making sure her view was blocked, he motioned his head to the front door hoping that the Doc got the hint.

Undyne packed up her things with a huff and went to leave, but not without silently pointing at the small bundle and mouthing ‘later’. After she left, the other two Skeletons came over to stand in front of the couch. Dings quickly took a picture with a grin on his face as Blue struggled keeping quiet. Stretch rolled his eyelights at his family’s antics and sighed. He took a peek and saw that her eyes were closed and her breathing had slowed. Speaking quietly, he stated “…i didn’t actually sleep since I was taking care of her until you all got home. she doesn’t seem to want me to move since she starts to tense when i do. i think i’m just gonna take a nap just like this since she needs all the recuperation she can.”

“But, Papy… That Is Just Lazy. What About Giving Her A Name?” Blue puffed his cheeks a bit as he pouted and crossed his arms across his chest.

Dings patted him on the shoulder, “He’s not being lazy, he’s being considerate. He doesn’t want to wake her up or disturb her since she feels safe at the moment.”

“But He Said She Was Asleep When He Found Her And Didn’t Wake Up Until Just Now.” Blue huffed.

His father sighed “Being unconscious and actually sleeping restfully are two different things. If you don’t believe me, just ask Undyne… I’m sure she’ll back me up on that. I’m sure your brother didn’t sleep in case she woke up.”

Stretch nodded in agreement. “…yup… y’know what… it’d be a huge help if you went and picked up something special for dinner.”

Blue’s eyes went wide as he started to get giddy again. “Gasp! I Know The Perfect Thing To Make! MWEH HEH HEH HEH!!!”

With a wink, Stretch added “…dontcha mean _purr_ fect, bro?”

With a stomp of his foot on the floor, he pouted and got ready to leave. “I Am Leaving Now Papy. Please Do Not Bother Our Guest With Your Horrible Puns, Please.” With that, he rushed out the door.

Once he was certain that his youngest son was out of range, Dings turned to his oldest with a more serious look on his face, though not without difficulty by the quality pun. “Alright… now are you going to tell me where you _really_ found her or do I need to cut you off of all sweets for a week.”

Stretch chuckled at his dad’s attempt to be serious. “…i was planning to do that as soon as _paws_ able, but i had to wait for the fish and blue to leave. might wanna sit down in case you can’t _stand_ the truth.” His dad chuckled and sat down on a nearby chair. “…so y’know how i hate to shortcut long distances and i get the heebie jeebies when I’m around the core.”

“Yes, I remember you saying that your magic, specifically your shortcuts, seemed to be affected by the CORE… wait… there was a surge right as shortcut back to Muffet’s…”

With a nod, Stretch continued. “…yup… it hit me hard just as i jumped… it felt like i was going slow-motion through the void and saw something in front of me as i drifted through… i could sense their magic was faint and there was no ill intent so i grabbed them before i came out the other side... my magic was messed up and i pretty much face planted when i landed in the alley next to muffet’s… that spider she sent was stuck in my hood so it never saw anything that happened by the way…”

Dings didn’t realize he tensed up and was glad his eldest was sharp enough to realize it. “So that’s when Muffet found you after the spider went for help.” He saw Stretch nod. “She was floating without clothes on in the void for who knows how long. Considering the color of her ecto and the fact she survived the void, I wouldn’t be surprised if she has a Perseverance Trait.”

Nodding again and fighting off a yawn, Stretch added “…do ya think that this wdg creep dumped her there?”

“It’s a pretty good guess. When there’s more time I want to look at that collar you mentioned… I don’t feel like it’s a good idea for ‘Dyne to look at it.” They both nodded in agreement.

“…do…do you think that whoever that is… is even from ‘here’?”

Dings placed a phalange over his mouth and shrugged. A silent message of ‘we’ll talk later when it’s ‘safe’. “You should take your nap before Blue gets home. I’ll let Muffet know how she is since you have your hands full.” With a wink, he pulled out his cell phone.

“…crap… thanks dad… i hope she doesn’t get annoyed it’s not me…”

“Relaaaaaaax… you literally have you hands full… aaaaaand…” With that he quickly took another picture. “Wish I could’ve taken a picture when she was eating the donuts… well we still have two she can have later… I’ll let her know we’ll be doing that, so that should appease her.” He walked into the kitchen before his eldest could say anything.

>^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^<

Stretch woke up to the sound of the front door opening. He groggily started to move when he realized something was lying on him. Opening an eye socket he glanced down and chuckled. _forgot i had a kitty on my lap_ He was still sitting on the couch with a blanket bundle on his lap. She still seemed peacefully asleep so as his brother stepped in the door, he motioned for him to keep quiet.

Blue saw that his big brother was awake and nodded that he understood she was still asleep. He quickly bounded to the kitchen to put away what he picked out for dinner, but he didn’t think anyone had lunch yet. He decided to make a few quick sandwiches so Papy could eat without disturbing the kitty girl. _I HOPE SHE WAKES UP SOON SO WE CAN START PICKING OUT A NAME FOR HER. I WOULDN’T WANT TO FORCE SOMETHING ON HER SHE DOESN’T LIKE._ He quietly _MWEH_ ’ed to himself as he made lunch.

Stretch wished he could get to his hoodie pocket for something to snack on when he heard his brother walk towards him. Glancing towards the noise, he saw Blue walking up to him with two plates of sandwiches. Grabbing one of them he quietly thanked him and pointed upstairs. He took a big bite with a happy sigh when he realized there was honey in it. His little bro really didn’t like his love of the sticky condiment, but must’ve realized how rough it had been for him in less than 24 hours.

Blue grinned proudly at his brother’s reaction and then headed upstairs to find his father. Knocking on the door between his and his brother’s, he head a muffled ‘coming’ before the door opened. “Sorry, kiddo… I was cleaning up a bit and trying to decide on the living arrangements for our guest. Ooooo… is that for me?” He quickly snatched the plate of sandwiches and started eating.

“YOU BOTH EAT TOO FAST!” Blue said with a huff and then whirled around to go back downstairs to eat his own lunch.

Dings shrugged and went back in his room as he hummed to himself. _I’d rather she didn’t have to keep sleeping on the couch and had her own room. We only have the three rooms and I’d rather not have her sleep in the basement or the shed. I know Stretch wouldn’t care if he slept on the couch, but that wouldn’t help if she stayed here long term._

>^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^<

As Stretch finished up his sandwiches, he felt the bundle on his lap shift a little. Looking down he saw two different colored eyelights peeking up at him through a gap in the blanket. Noticing her sniff the air a little, he smiled “…are you hungry? My bro made something ta eat if yer hungry.” Seeing the quick nod, he called out to Blue to bring her something. As his little bro made his way over with another plate, he saw her perk up and sniff the air even more. Her whole body was focused on the plate of sandwiches, almost like she was about to pounce on it.

“MWEH HEH HEH HEH… LOOKS LIKE SHE’S HUNGRY!” He noticed her flinch when he spoke and remembered to talk a bit quieter “Sorry… I Asked At The Market What Cats Like To Eat And Was Told They Love Fish. I Bought A Few Cans Of Tuna And Made Tuna Fish Sandwiches For Her. I Hope I Made Them Right And She Likes Them.” He was puzzled when he brought the plate over, but she didn’t take it.

She slowly shifted to the floor as the shortest Skeleton… Blue… brought more food over. She didn’t know what it was, but it smelled wonderful. The food earlier was good, but a little too sweet, this smelled much better. She sat patiently for him to bring it to her, but he just stood there looking at her. She hoped he wasn’t teasing her with food, only to take it away… she hoped these new Skeletons weren’t like **_Him_** …

Stretch and Blue looked at each other with puzzled looks on their face and looked back at the small Skeleton sitting on the floor like a pet waiting to be fed on the floor. “…try putting it on the coffee table.” He watched her reaction when Blue did what he suggested. She only stared at it longingly, glancing to each of them on occasion. “…go ahead and eat… that’s your food.” Her ears and tail drooped a bit and she let out a sad little mewl as she glanced at the food and then the floor in front of her.

“I hate to suggest it, but try putting the plate on the floor…” Dings spoke from the stairs as he was on his way to put his plate in the kitchen sink. He saw when Blue did what he asked, she immediately perked up and basically pounced on the sandwiches. As he got closer, he could smell they were tuna sandwiches _ahhh… good choice… I definitely think she likes them…_

They watched as she awkwardly tried to hold a sandwich between her two curled up front ‘paws’ as she quickly ate the sandwich with a happy purr. She kept looking at each of them as she ate like she needed to know she was allowed and it wasn’t getting taken away. Dings ran and grabbed a bowl and filled it with milk to bring back to her. He didn’t know if she could get the hiccups from eating such a dry food so fast, but it was better to be prepared. He sat the bowl next to her and stepped back quickly as she started to hiss until she realized what he was doing. “She must’ve thought I was going to take the food away… I was afraid of that. Whoever this WDG person is treated her horribly… we’ll have to help her realize she won’t be hurt anymore.”

Blue sat down on the floor near her as she finished up her food. “Did You Like Them?”

She nodded and happily purred.

“I Made Them With Something Called Tuna! I Shall Make Certain I Make More Things For You Using This.”

She quickly licked his hand and then gave it a little nuzzle.

“MWEH HEH HEH HEH! You Are So Cute! Do You Have A Name?” He wiggled excitedly for her answer.

She looked down sadly and shook her head.

He wasn’t sure how to ask his next question. “C-Can You… Talk… Like Us?”

It looked like she was about to cry as she shifted her right ‘paw’ to the wound on her neck and shook her head.

Dings sat down on the floor to look at her neck again. With a dry click of his throat, he hesitantly asked “Was that done to… to stop you from talking?”

She nodded sadly again with a pained look on her face.

Dings sat up straight and proclaimed “I swear on my SOUL that the three of us will never let whoever did this to you to come near you without a fight.” He saw her look up with hope in her eyes. “May we give you a hug?” She stared at him with a puzzled look on her face.

“Did No One Ever Give You A Hug?” She still looked confused. “Like This!” Blue immediately gave his father a big hug and made sure to wait until he hugged back. When he finished he saw her look interested in what they did. “That Is Called A Hug. I, The Magnificent Blue, Gives The Best Hugs! Would You Like One?”

She was very nervous about this offer, but accepted anyway with a nod. She tried not to flinch when… Blue… wrapped his arms around her and squeezed. It wasn’t painful and was similar to what… Stretch… did to her earlier through the blanket. Immediately after… Dings… said “Group hug.” While he and Stretch kneeled next to her to hug her at the same time. She felt safe and comforted for the first time that she could remember. She happily purred and mewled while she nuzzled each of them in the face. This was the only way she could thank them and she hoped they understood.

Stretch chuckled at her antics “…you’re welcome, kiddo…” As they all disengaged from the hug, he added “…since ya don’t have a name, is it okay if we give you one? You can let us know if ya like it or not…”

She rubbed the tears that were forming in her eye sockets with her curled up paws and nodded with a smile.

“…soooo howsabout ‘kitty’…” She gave him a look that said ‘really?’

“Papy! That’s Too Lazy! She Deserves A Nicer Name! What About Suzanna?” She wrinkled her face and shook her head.

Dings piped up “Ooooo… do you like the name _Cat_ rina?” It looked like she was thinking about it. “So that’s a maybe.”

“That Sounds Suspiciously Like A Pun…” Blue stared at the two older Skeletons who suddenly looked mischievous.

“…catty… wait… no… that’s already taken… what about jenni _furr_?”

“ _Claw_ dia?”

“…jessi _cat_?”

“ _Tabby_ tha!”

“… _purr_ udence… or _purr_ incess…”

“ _Meow_ nerva!”

She didn’t look impressed with any of the names and saw how upset each one made Blue even though the other two were cracking up laughing.

Stretch paused a moment, deep in thought. With a deep breath to calm down, he spoke seriously this time. “…ali…”

She perked up at that suggestion and nuzzled his nearby arm.

“…i think we have a winner…” He said with pride as he hid the smug look he shot to his dad along with a wink.

“That Sounds Wonderful And Definitely Not Like A Pun! Welcome To Your New Home Little Ali!” He gave her another hug that she happily accepted.

While Blue was distracted, Dings signed at his eldest “ _Ali huh? I assume that is not spelled the same way as the place you ‘found’ her am I right?”_ He added a wink back to his mischievous son.

With a grin he spelled out “ _a-l-i_ ” and then signed “ _…you would be assuming right… i wonder how long before blue figures that out…”_

 _“I won’t tell him if you don’t… as long as her last name is…”_ He spelled out the last part individually. “ _K-A-T-T”_

He fist bumped his dad, and turned his attention back to the smaller two.

Dings smiled as he thought _Welcome to the Aster Household Miss Ali Katt…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here is some art of the poor little skellie
> 
> [first attempt with Picrew](https://sta.sh/0hp9ew683n6)
> 
> [second attempt with Gacha Life](https://sta.sh/222ny5kmwd1y?edit=1)
> 
> This one was done by my friend [Shimo](https://www.deviantart.com/shimokolade) on Deviant Art  
> [Ali Katt](https://www.deviantart.com/shimokomoriya/art/Alikatt-836957953)


	5. TACObout a FISHY situation

As Blue happily put the rest of the lunch plates away and cleaned up the kitchen, Dings and Stretch stayed with Ali. Looking at his oldest son, Dings decided to share his ideas on how sleeping arrangements were going to work. “So… I’ve been trying to figure out where Ali is going to sleep.”

Ali twitched her ears and looked at the older Skeleton with a worried look on her face.

Noticing her distress, Dings chuckled “You can stay with us as long as you’d like… I don’t mind if you decide to live with us permanently… it’s just that we only have three bedrooms… and I think it would be best if a young lady like yourself had her own room.” He saw her blush at that. It was odd when she did… one cheek was purple and the other was green… not that he was one to talk with his own mismatched orange and blue. “Our ‘guest room’ is more of a shed and isn’t very warm inside. It’s not good for long-term housing and the basement isn’t in any shape for that either since it doesn’t have any windows. We may need to do some renovations if Ali would like to stay here… _purr_ manently… what do you say… besides _meow_ of course…”

With a big toothy smile and wide eyes, she meowed loudly and rubbed against Dings’ with nodding motions while purring loudly.

“i’d say she says ‘yes’…” Stretch said with a chuckle as he watched his father almost get knocked over by the short cat-like Skeleton. She still hadn’t actually stood up completely and he wondered whether she actually could with the way her legs were… altered. He knew Monsters that looked like cats could… but she was obviously meant to resemble and act like a _pet_ cat. If he had to guess, he was pretty sure she was shorter than Blue… at least now anyway.

Moving to sit down on the couch, Dings tried not to fall over from their overly excited guest. _Guess I should say housemate, now…_ As he and Stretch sat down, Ali quickly hopped up and sat between them, purring happily. “So that means we need to decide if we need to completely add on to the house or renovate the shed to a proper little house… maybe adding a way to get to the main house without going outside.” Pulling a pen and sheet of paper out of his inventory, he started drawing a simple diagram of the first and second floors of the house as well as the shed. Once done, he switched to a pencil to sketch out some ideas.

“well… if we’re gonna have the guest house completely re-done it should have its own bathroom so she doesn’t have to worry about sharing with a bunch of guys.” Stretch saw his dad nod in agreement. “…and if it’s gonna be rebuilt anyway, we might as well just attach it to the house… we don’t have ta use as much wood if we don’t need ta make a connectin’ hallway… and it could just use the house’s heating… not ta mention there’s no plumbing in there.”

“I should take a good look at it to see what kind of shape it’s in… it never was in the best shape and usually we’re the ones visiting others… not the other way around.” Looking down at Ali, he added “It’s more like it’s just an old storage shed for random junk than an actual guest house.”

“…i hate ta ask… but do you have any family…” He saw her immediately shake her head. “…i’m sure the answer’s obvious, but i gotta ask anyway… there’s no-one… ‘safe’ that’d be lookin’ for ya…” He saw her sadly shake her head. Turning his head towards the kitchen, he called out to his brother. “hey, blue…”

“MWEH?” Blue walked out of the kitchen after hearing his name called out.

“ali’s gonna be living with us from now on…” He gently covered Ali’s ecto-formed cat-ears before his bro went off. _heh… they’re as soft an’ fuzzy as they look…_

Blue’s starry eyelights blew out as he started to squeal and bounce in place. “WOWZERS!!!!!! SHE IS????? OHMYSTARSOHMYSTARSOHMYSTARS!!!!!! IS SHE GOING TO BE OUR NEW SISTER?!?! WHERE IS SHE GOING TO SLEEP!!! SHE CAN’T STAY ON THE COUCH AND SHE IS NOT STAYING IN OUR ROOMS… UNLESS IT’S A SLEEPOVER… AND…”

Before he could continue, Dings got up and placed a hand over his youngest son’s mouth. “Remember, she doesn’t like loud voices. We’re trying to figure that out right now… and whether we need major renovations or not.” He felt the nod and took his hand away.

Ali was glad Stretch blocked out Blue’s loud voice by covering her ears… she was starting to understand that he couldn’t help it and that was just how he spoke most of the time. She felt wanted for the first time in her life as she saw the three happy Skeletons… they even wanted her as a sister. She never had a brother before, let alone two… or the fact that they didn’t treat her like a pet. She wished she could tell them how she felt, but whatever was done to her, it was impossible. She could only respond like a cat could. At least they tried to communicate with her… even if it was just yes and no questions.

Blue made a small gasp sound and pulled out his phone, bringing up a note taking program. “Maybe You Can Type What You Want To Say, Ali.” He paused when she looked a bit confused. “Do You Not Know What A Phone Is?”

Dings decided to try a different approach. “Do you know how to read or write?” She shook her head. “I didn’t think so.” Looking at his oldest son, he suggested “Maybe between the two of us… and Undyne if she behaves… we can figure out something using images. It would be faster than finding things to point to…” Looking back to Ali “…and we can try and teach you how to spell and read some basic words while we’re at it. You’re not a mindless animal and we’ll never treat you as one.”

She was happy to hear that… it was hard having only a one-way conversation. She let out a yawn and realized she was still pretty tired. She curled up and set her head on Stretch’s boney lap while letting out another yawn.

“…looks like i’m trapped again, heh.” Stretch chuckled as his father got up and went towards the front door.

“Well, I’m going to take a good look at the shed and see what we’re working with.” With a wave, he left the house after putting his coat and shoes on.

“Why Is She Taking Another Nap?” Blue pouted as he looked down at the already asleep Ali.

“…she went through a lot of bad stuff, bro… she’s still trying ta recover her hp and magic since it’s still pretty low. i know that’s hard for you ta understand with how cool you are, but i’m sure she’ll get better soon with lots of sleep and good food… i’ll help her with the sleep part and you can help her with the food part.”

Blue huffed at his brother’s laziness, but nodded in agreement about his part in helping her. “I Will Make Certain That She Gets Plenty Of Healthy Healing Foods To Make Sure She Gets Better Quickly!”

Stretch chuckled and figured now was a good time for a nap. He grabbed her favorite blanket and covered her up before taking a nap himself. _i just hope blue doesn’t burn dinner tonight…_

>^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^<

Stretch slowly woke up to an odd sound and something twitching against him. Opening an eye socket, he looked down and realized it was Ali. She was curled up tightly next to him on the couch, breathing quickly and twitching while sounding panicked. “hey… you all right?” He gently tried to wake her up without startling her, but it wasn’t working. It sounded like she was having a nightmare or a bad memory. Either way he needed to calm her down somehow. _don’t know if this’ll work… or if it’ll make things worse, but it worked last time…_ He carefully scooped her up with her fuzzy orange blanket and held her like he did earlier when she was having the panic attack.

She felt trapped and alone again… like she was back in that ‘void’ place… she thought she fell asleep with her head on Stretch’s lap… he always seemed safe and calm… Suddenly she felt something wrapping around her, but before she could panic, she could feel the soft and familiar blanket being held closer as well as a familiar calm shushing sounds…

Noticing her calming down, Stretch continued to hold her close to his chest while rubbing her blanket covered back. He noticed an eyelight peeking up at him “…sorry for wakin’ ya… you were havin’ a bad dream… those are never fun to deal with… you okay now?” He saw her slightly nod her head and cuddle closer to him with a weak mewl. “dinner’s gonna be started soon, but if ya wanna go back to a nap, i’ll wake ya when it’s ready…” He could feel a slight nod as she pressed closer. He could tell she was still shaken up… she would always make purring sounds when she was close to him or his family. She was almost completely silent except for a few quiet and sad mewls. He tried to make sure he didn’t fall back to sleep so he could keep her calm, managing to get his phone out to keep him distracted when he saw his little bro.

Blue was about to complain about his big brother being lazy when he noticed Ali. He could tell his brother was trying to comfort her and she was making sad sounding little noises. Next thing he knew, his text alert went off and he pulled his phone out in annoyance… at least until he saw what it was.

 **Papy:** she had bad dream

 **Papy:** still shook up

 **Papy:** will wake when food done

Nodding at his brother, he quietly continued into the kitchen, trying to make as little noise as he could. He knew it had to be pretty bad if his brother didn’t use any puns or lazy texting in his messages to him. Pulling out everything he was going to need, he started preparing dinner. He knew she would love it and hoped it would cheer her up. He also needed to pay close attention to what he was doing… he didn’t want to burn her first dinner with them.

>^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^<

She felt warm and safe and cozy and… hungry? She sleepily sniffed at the air, trying to ignore the familiar sweet smell that was right in front of her. There was a new smell coming from somewhere and it was starting to make her non-existent stomach grumble. Peeking an eye socket open, she looked up at a pair of orange eyelights that looked amused along with a quiet chuckle.

“nice timin’… i think blue might be just ‘bout done with dinner…” He chuckled when he saw her sniffing the air and then look back at him in curiosity. “…dunno what he’s makin’ and he wanted ta surprise ya… we gotta wait until he’s done an’ says we can go in the kitchen… anyway… ya feelin’ better now?” He chuckled again as she nuzzled his chest and purred happily. “guess so… wonder where dad is… he doesn’t get many chances to eat dinner with us…”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Dings piped up as he walked over to the couch. “ I saw the text you sent earlier, she doing better now?”

“she seems pretty eager to find out what’s for dinner…” He laughed at her still sniffing the air and trying to stay on the couch. Her tail was twitching excitedly as she kept making happy chirps and trills as the smell from the kitchen got stronger. “heh… we gotta be patient and wait for him to finish…” She mewled at him and kept looking between him and the kitchen. He hoped she was still as excited after she tried it… Blue was getting better at cooking, but he still had a habit of overcooking or adding things that shouldn’t be ingredients.

Blue poked his head out of the small kitchen “Dinner Is Almost Ready! Please Wash Your Hands First!” He went back in and started putting four sets of dishes and cups out on their small kitchen table. He was glad his dad found an extra chair when he was checking the shed earlier so Ali had somewhere to sit.

Stretch made sure the blanket was left on the couch and carried Ali into the bathroom. “i figure this would be a better place for you to wash up…” He set her down on the bathroom counter, next to the sink and turned on the water. “…i don’ think blue would be too happy if i sat you down on the kitchen counter.” He soaped up and washed his own hands so she could see what he was doing. He had a feeling this wasn’t something she was familiar with either.

Ali watched Stretch closely as he used the… ‘soap’ and ‘washed’ his hands. She looked at her own curled up ecto-paw covered hands… her phalanges were all razor sharp on the tips… her toes weren’t nearly as sharp… more for climbing or grip than attack and defense. All four were covered with ecto-created paws… she kept her hands curled up most of the time to protect anyone from accidental damage. She knew if she stretched them out or flexed them, the dangerously sharp phalanges would become exposed and that was very, very bad. She didn’t want to hurt anyone by accident or otherwise… especially her new… family?

Noticing she seemed a bit lost in thought, he flicked a little water at her to get her attention. He chuckled at her shocked expression “…it’s your turn… don’t wanna keep blue waiting…” He watched her swat at the water and moved to help her with the soap when she hissed at him and pulled away. Holding his hands up, he took a step back “…it’s okay… didn’t mean ta startle ya… ummmm… you seemed okay with me touching you before…” _…what did i do… i don’t think i scared her… i just wanted to help her with the soap…_

Blinking a few times, she realized what she did and saw that Stretch was upset. She meowed sadly and leaned to try and rub her head in his hand. She didn’t mean to hiss at him… she didn’t want him to get hurt… if only she could speak…

Stretch’s thoughts were interrupted by Ali almost falling off the counter trying to reach him. He stepped forward again and she immediately rubbed his hand with her head as soon as he was close enough. “…i guess we both have issues, huh…” After she was done ‘apologizing’ she looked back and forth between her curled up paw-like hands and himself with a concerned look on her face. She had pulled them away from him for some reason. “uummmm… you don’t want me to touch your hands?” He saw her nod and he stepped to the side again.

After she saw he was okay and he gave her some space, she tried to do what he did with the soap and water. She ended up putting several deep gouges in the bar of soap, trying not to lose the slippery object. She swatted at the water again to get the slippery stuff back off, but didn’t know what to do with her wet paws.

Getting her attention, he wiped his hands on a small towel and then set it near enough she could reach it. He discreetly picked the bar of soap up and took a closer look. It didn’t look like she had held it that tight, but it was almost in pieces from many deep cuts and gouges. Setting it back down, he looked at the towel and saw she was trying to be careful as she dried her palms. _…i never thought about it… but she always seems to keep them curled up… are they **that** sharp… she’s afraid of hurting someone? _He made a mental note to mention this to his dad and Blue so they don’t make the same mistake he did.

Ali noticed he saw what she did to the soap, but he didn’t say anything to her. Was he mad about it? She didn’t mean to destroy it like that. She tried to be more careful with the drying cloth he left for her. It snagged a few times and she thought she might’ve left a hole or two. She hoped she did well enough that she could eat now. She looked up at Stretch and glanced at the door and back.

“heh… good enough… we can go eat now…” He saw her curl her paws up against herself again and carefully picked her back up. Considering she couldn’t seem to walk without using her hands, it would defeat the purpose of her washing them and getting them dirty again. As he got to the kitchen, he saw that Blue and their dad were already at the table waiting. “sorry it took a bit… it’s be _claws_ i hadda show her how to _clean up_ her act…” He heard Blue groan at that as he went to set her down on the extra chair.

Ali was distracted by the jokes and Blue complaining so she hadn’t realized where he put her down at first. The second she realized she was on a chair, she started to panic and scrambled to get back down to the floor.

Before Stretch could let her go, Ali started panicking again and trying to get off the chair. He tried holding her still to no avail, so he picked her up again. “…it’s okay… you’re allowed to eat at the table with us… yer not a pet that needs ta eat on the floor…” He held her close to his chest since that seemed to calm her down the fastest for some reason. She looked at him wide-eyed and was breathing quickly. He saw her look over at the others, the chair, and back to him. With a sigh, he shifted his usual chair out with his foot and sat down, setting her on his lap while still trying to calm her down.

Dings cleared his throat “It’s okay, Ali… I guess we were moving too fast for you and you were only acting on instinct.” He tried not to laugh seeing her sitting on Stretch’s lap like a small child. The top of her head didn’t reach the bottom of his chin. If he had to guess, he bet that if she hadn’t had her legs altered, she’d still be a bit shorter than Blue. Blue came up to the bottom of Stretch’s sternum… at her current height with her shortened legs… she was probably around Blue’s shoulder and Stretch’s waist. Considering he was taller than all of them, he understood why she was still a little nervous around him.

“…well we can try eating this way… i don’t want you eating on the floor anymore… unless it’s a picnic or something… we really do want you ta eat with the rest of us.” He turned her around to face the table and shifted the chair a little closer so she could reach. He could still tell she was tensed up, but he figured she’d relax once the food was put out. For now he held on to her gently so she didn’t feel trapped, but kept her from getting down.

Dings got up and opened the refrigerator, pulling out drinks for all of them while Blue started serving dinner. While he was pouring milk for all of them, he saw Ali staring at him intently with her ears forward. As he moved, he realized she wasn’t actually focused on him, but it was the refrigerator she was curious about. He moved out of the way and pointed at it seeing her glance at him and back to the fridge. “You’ve never seen a refrigerator before?” He saw her shaker her head. “It keeps things cold and the top door keeps thing frozen. We can better show it to you later … for now… we eat!”

Blue placed something that smelled amazing on the plate in front of her. She sniffed at it as she wiggled happily on Stretch’s lap. She heard him chuckle above her as she looked at Blue, then the food in curiosity.

“My Favorite Thing To Make Is Tacos… that is what is in front of you… it has a crunchy shell and is filled with meat and cheese and other things.” He placed several smaller plates in the middle of the table with various toppings. “I Don’t Know What You Might Like In Yours, But I Have Made Extra Special Friendship Tacos In Honor Of You! They Are Called ‘Fish Tacos’… I Hope That You Like Them!”

Stretch and Dings winced a little at the words ‘Extra Special Friendship Tacos’… that was not normally a good thing… though they both noticed that there were no toppings on them this time and there were little dishes of toppings they could use to make their own… as in leave out things that didn’t need to be in it.

“When I Was Asking About How To Make Them, I Was Told That Some People Like To Put Their Own Toppings On And To Try It That Way… Especially When Trying Out A New Recipe. That And We Should All Try A Little Bite Before Adding Anything.”

The two taller skeletons wished all the thanks in the world for whoever gave him that stomach saving suggestion. “That sounds like a wonderful idea, Blue. I think we should do it that way from now on… especially since we do not know what Ali likes… and I don’t think she knows either.”

Ali watched as the three Skeletons picked up the ‘taco’ and take a bite… seeing that they all seemed okay with it, she tried to hold it in her paws. It started to crack and she dropped it back on the plate in a panic. She heard another chuckle from Stretch and he picked it back up for her.

“if ya squeeze too hard they crack, but that’s okay… they need ta break when you bite into them… try now.” He held the taco up to her mouth as she hesitantly took a bite.

Blue watched for her reaction as she tried to take a bite with her cute little fanged mouth. She always seemed to take such dainty little bites. He saw her heterochromatic eyelights brighten up from the bite and he could hear a happy little purr. “Do You Like It?”

She nodded quickly and tried to take another bite, but missed when Stretch set it down. Looking a bit annoyed she looked at him wondering what he was doing. She saw him put a tiny bit of everything from each plate and put it on hers.

“…you can try each topping and that way we know what you want on it, okay?” She huffed and then nodded as he picked up a piece of each topping and telling her what it was. He tried not to twitch and chuckle every time she lapped up something from his palm with her little green ecto-tongue. _…heh… it kinda tingles a little… almost like healing magic…_ After she tried each topping, he added the ones she liked to her taco before piling his up and adding a large amount of honey to his.

Dings snickered and pulled out his phone to take pictures as his oldest son ate with one hand and held Ali’s taco with the other after she had trouble picking it up again. He saw that she seemed insistent on keeping her ‘paws’ curled rather than fulling using her hands and saw that Stretch noticed him looking. The look on his face told him there was something important he needed to tell him later. _I could always have Blue show Ali the fridge while we talk in the other room._ “Maybe when we finish eating, Blue could give Ali a tour of the house.”

Blue made a loud ‘gasp’ sound and smiled “You Are Right! She Has Mostly Slept So Far… Though Apparently She Needed It… She Has Not Been Given The Grand Tour!” He watched her gobble up her tacos while purring almost non-stop. He was proud that she loved her first real meal so much and everyone else seemed to eat more this time having the toppings ‘self-serve’ like this. _I WILL HAVE TO REMEMBER TO DO THIS EVERYTIME I MAKE TACOS!_

Dings saw that she needed more to drink and went to pick up her cup when she hissed at him. He pulled back quickly and saw she realized what she did a moment later as her ears drooped and she had a very apologetic look on her face. “That was my fault… I think we all need to try and remember to make sure you’re aware of what we’re doing around you so we don’t startle you. I really do understand you didn’t come from a good place and you needed to defend yourself. It’s going to take a while for you to not have that reaction anymore. We’re all going to work on helping you through this. So is it all right if I refill your drink now?” He saw her perk up a bit and nod. She let him get her cup to refill and set it back down. It was hard not to stare at how adorably she drank it, lapping up the milk as she held the cup still.

As he saw his dad trying not to geek out again at her doing something cute, Stretch finished his tacos. He was glad they weren’t burnt and filled with things he didn’t like. As his dad put the milk back in the fridge, he noticed an odd bottle on a shelf. “…hey blue… what’s that?”

Blue looked in the opened fridge and saw the new condiment bottle. “Oh! I Was Told That This Is A Popular Topping For Fish.” Picking it up, he re-read the label “It Is Called Tartar Sauce.” He pulled out a spoon and put some on for her to try.

She took a sniff of the thick substance, a hesitant lick and then quickly cleaned the spoon and mewled at Blue for more.

“…looks like you might need to stock up on that, bro.” He chuckled as Blue was forced to refill the spoon for the fifth time due to Ali giving him ‘the kitten eyes’ and mewling repeatedly and insistently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here is some art of the poor little skellie
> 
> [first attempt with Picrew](https://sta.sh/0hp9ew683n6)
> 
> [second attempt with Gacha Life](https://sta.sh/222ny5kmwd1y?edit=1)
> 
> This one was done by my friend [Shimo](https://www.deviantart.com/shimokolade) on Deviant Art  
> [Ali Katt](https://www.deviantart.com/shimokomoriya/art/Alikatt-836957953)


	6. sometimes you KNEAD comfort

After Blue finally managed to put the half empty bottle of tartar sauce away while Stretch held on to a still adorably pouting Ali, Dings started on the dishes. His oldest was trying to stop laughing as she kept making various pathetic noises and his youngest was happy that for once there weren’t any leftovers since everyone enjoyed it so much. “Blue… it’s about time you gave her the tour of the house now.”

“All Right! Follow Me Please!” Blue waved Ali over as he prepared himself to be the best tour-guide ever. Once he got her attention, although she was still a little annoyed, he waved his arms “This Is The Kitchen… It Is Where We Cook And Eat Our Food…” He continued to point out every detail, whether it was needed or not, and how each item worked. He opened the refrigerator again making sure to try and block the bottle from view.

Ali flinched a bit as the cold air blasted her in the face from the now open ‘fridge’ door. She rubbed her face and ears with a paw to warm them up a little, but realized the cold air kept coming out. She went wide-eyed at all the food on the shelves and was glad she had already eaten. She sniffed at the cold air and tried to get closer to the shelves of food when Blue carefully closed it again.

“Sorry, But It Is Not Good To Keep The Refrigerator Door Open Too Long Or The Food Can Go Bad. That And We Do Not Need To Air Condition The House As It Is Cold Enough Outside.” He motioned for her to follow him as he left the kitchen though he saw she was hesitant at first when Stretch didn’t follow.

Once Blue and Ali were out of earshot, Stretch made sure to get his dad’s attention so he could talk quietly. “…i found out she’s really scared of anyone getting’ too close to her hands… that’s why she seems t’keep them curled up all the time.”

Dings nodded “I did notice she didn’t try opening them when she was eating even though it would’ve made it easier.”

Shortcutting to the bathroom and back, Stretch showed off the mutilated bar of soap in one hand and the slightly damaged hand towel in the other “She actually used her hands with these… you can see what happened…”

Dings took a close look at the soap first. It was nearly in pieces and looked like someone took a knife to it. “She was trying to grip it tightly since it was slippery?” He saw his son nod in agreement. Looking at the towel, he saw there were several snags and a few small slices in it.

“…she was tryin’ t’be more careful with the towel… i don’ think she dried her palms that much when she saw she was tearing that too… i think she’s scared of cuttin’ us with those sharp ‘nails’ of hers… i know soap and towels aren’t that strong, but i’m kinda ‘fraid of how sharp they really are...” Stretch rubbed the back of his neck with a sigh.

With a nod of understanding, Dings sat back down in a chair. “At the very least, we need to let Blue know that she’s afraid of hurting us and be careful of getting too close to her hands. I think he already understands that she scares easily and not to do anything near her without her knowing. At least he’s been doing better with keeping his voice on the quieter side.”

“…i better go check up on her _meow_ … she seemed a bit nervous leaving the room with blue… or she’s just used to me being nearby…” He saw his dad caught the pun and waved him off as he went to finish the dishes. Shortcutting back to the bathroom, he put the soap and towel back before going to find Blue and Ali. He figured it was better to find them the normal way since popping up near Ali might startle her.

>^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^<

“And This Is My Bedroom! I Have Many Cool Figures For Battle Simulations And An Even Cooler Rocket Ship Bed That My Dad And Big Brother Made For Me.” As he pointed things out, Ali hesitantly peeked in the room to see what he was showing her. “You May Enter My Room, Ali… Right Brother?” He looked toward Stretch as he walked towards them.

Ali turned around quickly and saw Stretch standing nearby. She realized that he didn’t walk closer until she saw he was there. With a meow and nuzzle to his boney leg, she looked up at him and then followed as he walked into the room.

“…if someone’s bedroom door is closed… we make sure ta knock on their door first…” He knocked on the door to make sure she understood what he meant. It was hard to tell what she did or didn’t know and it was better to explain things right off the bat just in case. He saw her nod and shift closer to him while looking back and forth between himself and the room in general. “…you can look ‘round if ya wanna… this’s your house too now… ya don’ have ta stick close ta me all the time…”

Looking at him one more time, she hesitantly made her way further into the room, keeping her tail and head low. She was still worried that this was okay and she wasn’t going to get punished for doing a bad thing. Stretch and Blue were happy she was there so it must be safe. She saw he had a lot of different things and the room was bright. Most of what he showed her seemed important to him so she made sure not to touch them. She didn’t want to break them like everything else she touched. Her claws were dangerous after all.

“…i’ll show her my room next if ya haven’t yet…” Stretch spoke up a little to make sure that Ali heard him. She seemed distracted a bit and he didn’t want to spook her.

“I Have Not Shown Her Your Room Since I Did Not Know If It Was Clean And Your Door Was Closed. That Would Be Her Last Stop On The Tour Anyway, So You Can Show Her Your Messy Room. I Did Not Feel It Was Necessary To Show Her The Basement As I Do Not Think She Would Be Doing Laundry.” He saw his brother nod in agreement.

“you’re the coolest, bro… thanks for showin’ her ‘round… c’mon, ali…” He waved for her to follow him. “oh… and dad wanted ta tell ya somethin’… he’s prob’ly still downstairs.” _that way he can give blue a heads up about her claws and not sneaking up on her_ He noticed she was very nervous walking around on her own as she crept slowly behind him on all four… feet? paws? Opening the door to his room he saw she stopped in the doorway again. “c’mon in… it’s pretty messy, but maybe i’ll clean up a bit later…” He shrugged and sat down on his bed… which was basically a mattress on the floor.

Ali peeked into the messy room… there were clothes everywhere… the room itself much darker than Blue’s with the window covered and only a small lamp on. She slowly made her way into the room, being careful where she stepped, until she made it over to Stretch.

He could see she was still uncomfortable since she was moving slowly and still had her tail and head held low. _is it the messy room or she’s just not used ta being allowed ta go where she wants…_ “you weren’t allowed to wander ‘round or go where ya wanted, huh?” He saw her shake her head slowly. “…ya ain’t there anymore… you can do what ya want as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone…” He saw purple and green tears start to drip down her face as she mewled sadly. With a sigh, he scooped her up and held her close. “…i know it’s gonna be hard ta stop thinking like that… me an’ blue an’ dad are gonna help ya with this… ‘kay?” He could feel a slight nod as she started to calm down.

>^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^<

Ali opened an eye socket only to realize she must’ve fallen asleep. She was curled up on the couch with the fuzzy orange blanket wrapped around her. She was still half asleep, but felt hungry as she groggily untangled herself from the blanket and quietly crawled off the couch. With another yawn, she crept in the direction of the kitchen, ears twitching for any noises nearby. She could hear the hum of the… ‘frige-rate-or’… thing where all the food was… sooo much food… just a bite wouldn’t be bad… would it? She didn’t want to bother anyone that was sleeping… they might get mad at her. She sat on her ‘haunches’ when she realized she was in front of the door. She remembered they only had to hold the large handle and pull to open it.

She tried tucking her front paws behind the handle and pulling, but it didn’t work. She tried harder, but her back paws kept sliding on the smooth floor, her claw like toes skidding and scratching on the floor repeatedly. As she pulled at it a few times she could hear some glass rattling inside. With one more tug, she almost slipped and fell as the door finally swung open. Dropping to the floor, she started sniffing at the cold air blasting in her face, trying to find something good. She tried not to sneeze from the cold air as she spotted the familiar half empty bottle on an upper shelf.

>^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^<

Dings woke up to a noise downstairs. _Can’t be Stretch… he’s quieter than that even when he has a nightmare… Blue never gets up once he goes to sleep…_ He snuck down the stairs as he heard more noise. Granted no-one locked their doors, but no-one had the need to steal from each other… they only needed to ask and the people of Snowden would be glad to help another out. He realized it sounded like it was coming from the kitchen and crept across the living room when he heard a loud hiss. He froze as the hissing and growling got louder in the dark room and dodged backwards just in time as something swung at his legs. Using blue magic, he flicked on a lamp, hoping to distract who or whatever it was. He heard a startled noise and opened his eyes sockets to see a blur of purple dart to the couch. “Ali?”

She shook as she hid under her blanket… she was bad… she shouldn’t’ve got into the food… she made a mess in the kitchen… she almost hurt Dings… he isn’t **_him_** … he’s not the bad man… she’s the one that was bad… she was about to scratch him…

Walking over to the couch, he made sure not to get too close. “Ali? Was that you just now? I’m not mad at you… I’m just worried if you’re all right.” He could tell she was upset and tried to comfort her, but it wasn’t helping. Getting up, he went to check the kitchen and saw that the door to the fridge was hanging open. There were a few things knocked on the floor, but nothing looked ruined. Quickly putting everything away, he went to go back to Ali when he kicked something. It was the plastic bottle of tartar sauce… picking it up, he saw that she couldn’t get it open and had chewed at the lid from the looks of the marks on it.

As she sniffled again from crying she noticed a familiar smell near her head. Peeking her head out from the blanket, she saw Dings smiling sadly while holding a bowl filled with the food she was trying to get into. She let out a questioning mewl and saw him nod and hold the bowl closer. Wiping her face with a paw, she slowly went closer and started lapping up the ‘tar-tar sus’ with a quiet purr.

“It’s okay… you’re not in trouble… I bet you were hungry and didn’t want to wake any of us up, huh?” He saw a slight nod as she continued to lick at the thick condiment. “You didn’t ruin anything and it was easy to clean up and put away. We should’ve made sure you weren’t still hungry, but you fell asleep after being upset earlier. Stretch told me about it… like he said… this is your home now… if you need something, please let us know. I’ll make sure we have some snacks where you can reach them… sometimes Blue can’t reach things either when Stretch or I put things away. I forgot the fridge door sticks a bit and you’re so small and light weight, you must’ve had a hard time getting it open. You probably couldn’t even reach the counter tops without getting on a chair.” He saw her eyes start to half close with a yawn.

With some last few licks, the bowl was empty and clean and she nuzzled Dings’ hand a little. She still felt horrible about what she did… and almost did… why was he not mad at her… he even gave her what she wanted even with what she did… It was hard for her to understand and her instincts kept nagging at her that it was a trick and he wanted something from her. Looking back up at him, she saw he had something in his hand and used it to wipe the tears from her face.

After Dings wiped her teary face with a tissue, he picked up the empty bowl. “Do you feel better now?” He saw her nod very slightly “Are you still hungry?” A shake of her head told him she was done as well as the big yawn she let out. “Good night.” He tucked her back in with the soft blanket and waited for her to doze back off before turning off the light and going back to bed himself. He was half tempted to give her a quick skele-kiss on the head like he did with his boys, Blue more often than Stretch, but he didn’t know if she would’ve been comfortable with that… he knew she was still trying to get used to hugs as it was.

>^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^<

Stretch slowly woke up… he knew it wasn’t morning yet… he wasn’t asleep that long… something wasn’t right… he could feel a slight tremor, but it wasn’t coming from him… opening an eye socket and waking up a bit more, he realized there was a lump pushed against him as he laid on his side… and it wasn’t his balled up blankets. Much more awake, he focused both eyelights in the dark and tried to find his phone. He thought the flashlight mode would be too bright, and only used the screen’s low light instead. He could now see a familiar fuzzy orange blanket and heard a few quiet whimpers… the same as when Ali had the nightmare earlier… “ali?” She curled up closer to him and continued to twitch in her sleep.

_i’m not a heavy sleeper… the door’s still closed… i would’ve heard it open and close… can she even use a regular doorknob… how’d she get in…_

He shook his head and focused on calming her down… she was having another nightmare after all. He sat up and picked her up, holding her like he did the other time she had a panic attack or nightmare. He spoke quietly to her as he gently rubbed her back, trying to get her to stop shaking and twitching. As much as she was panicking, she still kept her paw like hands curled up and wrapped in the blanket. It seemed like forever trying to get her to calm down… it dawned on him that she didn’t start to finally calm down until he changed how he was holding her. This time she was curled up tighter so he was keeping her more on his lap… he hadn’t been sure if she could hear him so he shifted her higher. That’s when she finally started to relax… the other times this had worked, she was more, _heh_ stretched out and her head was higher. _sorry… but i gotta try somethin’…_

She didn’t want to be alone in the dark anymore… she didn’t want to remember the bad man and what he did to her… she started to relax as she started hearing a familiar calm voice… she started to worry when it felt like someone was forcefully moving her body, but then she felt it… that soothing vibration again… she could both hear and feel it somehow… whatever it was… it made her feel safe… like it was protecting her… and it didn’t seem as dark…

Stretch let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding… it worked… she was calming down and falling back to sleep. He had gently gotten her to uncurl her body so she could still sit on his lap, but her head was resting on his tank top covered chest. He heard her let out a sigh and nuzzle him as her breathing slowed down. _guess i can go back to sleep…_ He stood up and shortcut back downstairs to put her back on the couch. Little did he know, not long after he put her down and shortcut away, she tensed up and her breathing sped up yet again.

The safe feeling faded away again… she couldn’t feel or hear it anymore… it seemed to be darker too… she was still on something soft, but she didn’t feel safe… it was too quiet… her thoughts started going back to memories of **_him_** … back to what he did to her…

>^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^<

Stretch was sprawled out on his back as he was roused from his sleep again… there was some kind of pressure on his ribs. Opening his eye sockets, he glanced down to the shivering lump on his chest. Running his phalanges down his face with a tired sigh, he picked up his phone again for some light to confirm his suspicions. Setting it aside, he shifted Ali to make sure her head was on his chest again as she quickly calmed down, nuzzling and purring against his chest. With another tired sigh he made sure she was covered with her blanket and decided to play on his phone… he didn’t think he was falling back to sleep anytime too soon.

The safe feeling was back… she could hear and feel that… thing… again… the safe thing… it didn’t seem as dark… she felt warm and cozy… she nuzzled into something that smelled sweet and familiar… she didn’t know why it went away earlier… at least it was back so she could sleep without being scared of her past…

Reaching his arm out past his ‘guest’ he flicked on the flashlight mode on his phone and aimed it at his door. It was still shut and he never heard the door open or close. He hadn’t gone through the door since he went to bed the first time and he noticed the hoodie he took off was still on the floor in front of the door. _if the door was opened any amount, it would’ve pushed into it… but it’s in the same shape it was when i took it off…_ He turned the flashlight mode off and glanced at the sleeping bundle. _how’re ya gettin’ in here… i heard cats can be sneaky, but this is a bit much…_ He really wanted to go back to sleep, but how she kept getting in his room was really bugging him. He didn’t want to bother her any further tonight… maybe he could set up a camera or something for tomorrow night.

>^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^<

As usual, Blue was the first to get up in the morning and got ready to go on his morning jog. Passing the couch, he froze a moment and turned around, looking at the vacant couch in confusion. “ALI?” He looked around the room and then the kitchen, but no Ali. Taking a peek out the front door, he saw there was no new foot prints in the snow. He looked over to the stairs as he heard someone coming down.

Dings yawned as he saw his youngest looking around frantically. “What’s the prob?”

“I CAN’T FIND ALI!” He quickly covered his mouth, remembering that she startled easily with loud and unexpected noises and movements.

“I know last night she was hungry and got into the fridge… the noise woke me up… gonna need more of that tartar sauce by the way…” He grinned at the annoyed look on Blue’s face. “I waited ‘til she was sleeping before going back to bed.” Before either of them could say anything further, he got a text message from Stretch.

 **iluvbeespit:** katt w/me

 **iluvbeespit:** stuck help plz lol

 **iluvbeespit:** just u no blu

 **dadster:** b there in a sec

Putting his phone away, he grinned “That was your brother… she’s just hanging out with him. You can go on your jog and I’ll check up on her.” With a nod, Blue finished getting ready to go outside as Dings headed back up the stairs. With a quiet knock, he slowly opened the door to see his eldest son lying on his back, with his phone in one hand and an orange blanket covered lump on his chest. “Ali I presume?” He saw his son nod with a tired look on his face.

“i’ve been afflicted with ‘feline _purr_ alysis’… i’m trapped here _fur_ ever…” Stretch put his free hand over his forehead dramatically. Seeing his dad was unimpressed, he showed him his phone.

Dings quietly read out loud what was on the screen “…let’s see… ‘Feline paralysis…the condition in which a person is unable to move due to the presence of a cat on his or her lap.’ Well… technically she’s not on your lap…”

Rolling his eyelights, Stretch mumbled “…details… couldn’t sleep… i didn’t wanna roll over on her an’ she didn’ wanna stay on the couch… i think she kept havin’ nightmares… still can’t figure out how she kept gettin’ in here… more than once too… i kept gettin’ woke up after she got in and the door couldn’t’ve been opened without me knowin’…” He pointed to the now moved hoodie by the door. “…that never moved until you just opened the door…”

“I got woke up not long after going to bed by a noise in the kitchen… apparently she got hungry and tried getting into the fridge… she made a bit of a mess, but I cleaned it up. I found her in the living room gnawing on the bottle of tartar sauce since she couldn’t get the lid off. I already told Blue we need to get more since I let her have the rest. I kinda scared her when I found her with it and I think she was afraid I was going to take it away.” He shook his head and sighed.

“…might try ta set up a camera or somethin’ ta see if it happens again… gonna see if i can ‘call off’ work since i didn’t get any slee…” Stretch stopped with a twitch as he felt a weird movement on his chest. He looked down and saw some shifting under the blanket. Lifting it up he saw Ali, eyes sockets still closed, and kneading his ribs with her curled up ‘paws’ and purring steadily. “…yup… gotta stay home with our _kneady_ housemate…”

With a chuckle, Dings chuckled and recorded some footage with his phone to the annoyance of Stretch and then held up a phalange, hurrying to the kitchen to grab the box with the last two spider donuts from the morning before. When he got back to Stretch, he could see it was getting a bit painful for him. Neither of them wanted to startle her in case she panicked and used her claws. He wafted one of the donuts in front of her nose to get her attention.

She was having a nice dream when she started smelling some kind of food… it was sweet smelling like the first food she had yesterday… she didn’t like the sweet food very much, but food was food… she started to fully wake up and blinked a few times when she realized where she was and what she was doing.

Dings tried not to squeal as she made a confused and high-pitched ‘merp’ sound as her purring was cut off in her shock. She stared at Stretch’s face, down to her hands, and back again. She scrambled off his chest with a squeak as he chuckled at her antics. He waved the donut at her again “Here’s some breakfast if you’re hungry.” He grinned as she quickly snatched the doughnut out of his hand and started eating frantically with a bright blush on her face. He quickly took a few pictures and sent them to Muffet as he promised her.

Stretch rubbed at his sore ribs and sent a text to Captain Alphys so he could ‘call off’ for the day… with the promise of sending ‘cute cat’ pictures and videos for Undyne’s ‘research purposes’ along with her measurements for ‘reasons’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here is some art of the poor little skellie
> 
> [first attempt with Picrew](https://sta.sh/0hp9ew683n6)
> 
> [second attempt with Gacha Life](https://sta.sh/222ny5kmwd1y?edit=1)
> 
> This one was done by my friend [Shimo](https://www.deviantart.com/shimokolade) on Deviant Art  
> [Ali Katt](https://www.deviantart.com/shimokomoriya/art/Alikatt-836957953)


	7. time to CUT things SHORT

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a curious KATT... trying a few MEW things... and a few HICCUPS along the way...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it too so long to do this... real life stinks sometimes...

It was pretty obvious to Stretch that Undyne had told Alphys about Ali considering her very specific requests. He had no idea how to take clothing measurements… he usually just got the same size he owned already or just ‘eyeballed’ it. Muffet might know, but he had a feeling said Spider Monster might get a wee bit competitive knowing someone else was doing a similar thing that she was. There was a reason some Fire Elemental by the name of Grillby never ventured into Snowden with his little tea shop, even though business was better here… and it wasn’t just due to him being made of living flame and the town being covered in snow. As prim and proper as she seemed on the outside, it was best not to find out what happened when you got her mad… she had a _miniature_ eight legged army after all.

After Ali was done with her donuts, Dings regrettably informed them that he had to go back to work.

“…i know your job is ‘portant an’ all… but sometimes it’d be nice for you ta get a day or two off on a regular basis like me an’ blue without havin’ ta beg for someone ta cover for ya… i still swear it’s like that boat can function on its own or somethin’…” Stretch shuddered a bit at the thought as he carefully got up from his mattress.

“I know… but there’s nothing I can do about it right now… maybe I can find someone willing to work weekends… or on my slower days do some kind of ‘on-call’ service… I would have to speak to the Queen about it… which means I would need someone to cover for me and… yes… I suppose I see your point…” Before he spun around and left the room, he added with a wink “…since you’re awake early enough I’ll make a quick breakfast before your brother gets back…” Chuckling from the quiet ‘thank you’ he heard from his eldest.

>^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^<

Breakfast was a quick affair consisting of scrambled eggs, toast, and coffee… though Blue pouted the whole time due to Dings beating him to it. Ali recoiled at the smell of Stretch’s coffee as she sat on his lap, perfectly happy with the milk she was given. She still refused to sit in her own chair, panicking at their attempt. Even though she already ate, she happily helped Stretch eat his eggs after Dings ‘accidently’ put extra on his plate. Strangely enough, those ‘extra’ eggs were somehow missed when his honey was added to everything on his plate. She found she didn’t care much for the overly sweet and sticky goop… it did _smell_ nice though. It smelled like… safety.

Seeing Ali look up at him, cutely licking her mouth for any missed crumbs with her little green ecto-tongue, Stretch grinned at the sight. “…it’s just you an’ me today while dad an’ blue go to work. we can chill out on the couch and watch tv…” He paused to let out a yawn. “…an’ take a nice long nap since i kept gettin’ woke up…” He stopped when he saw Ali’s ears and tail droop as she let out a sad mewl. “…awwww… it’s okay… i didn’ mean it like that. you had a rough night last night and trust me… i’ll never turn down a good excuse for a nap…” He finished with a wink.

Blue, who was about to leave the kitchen, puffed his cheekbones out and put his hands on his hips. “Papy! That Is No Way To Behave Around Our Guest! I Must Leave Shortly To Start My Patrols And I Expect You To Do Something Other Than Laze About All Day”

“…i’m sure we can find somethin’ ta keep us a _mew_ sed, bro…” He could hear his dad snickering as he finished the dishes.

“Papy!” He spun to glare at their father “And Shouldn’t _You_ Be Leaving For Work As Well?”

Dings continued to snicker as he left the kitchen to get ready to leave.

Stretch, with Ali still in his arms, headed over to the couch and plopped himself down. He flipped on the TV to something other than Napstation and waved goodbye as the other two left for work. As soon as they were gone, he tried not to jostle Ali as he shifted himself so he was lying down, grabbing her favorite blanket to cover her up. “…nap time… i’ll leave the tv on in case ya wanna watch somethin’, but i’m gonna sleep fer a bit… you can do that too if ya want…”

She stared at him confused for a moment as he yawned and closed his eye sockets. She glanced over to the ‘tee vee’ thing that seemed to have things moving in it. Very carefully, she slunk down to the floor, continuously glancing back and forth between Stretch and the noisy box thing as her ears twitched constantly. Once she crept close enough to the strange device, she slowly gave it a gentle ‘boop’ with a curled up paw. She tilted her head as she found out there was glass blocking it. The sound of Stretch chuckling behind her made her spin around in shock.

As he felt Ali try to stealthily get down, he opened an eye socket just enough to watch what she was doing, but not enough that she’d notice him awake. Especially since she kept looking back at him while she seemed to be creeping up on the TV. He opened his eye socket further once she seemed engrossed with watching the screen, her cute little ecto-ears twitching along with her long tail. He couldn’t hold in his laughter as she gave the glass screen a quick boop with a hand… paw… it was even funnier seeing her reaction as she nearly jumped from the noise he made. “…i’m sorry… that was just so adorable…”

Ali glared at him unimpressed a moment before looking back at the ‘tee vee’ again with another tilt of her head and a curious ‘merr’ sound. She didn’t think it was funny that he scared her… she thought he was sleeping. She looked back over to him with a confused look on her face before turning back.

Calming down, Stretch sat back up and looked down at her. “…so… i take it you never saw a television before, huh?” He saw her look at him and shake her head. “…how to explain it so you can understand…” He patted the couch cushion next to him as he pulled his phone out, bringing up the camera function. It took lousy pictures for a piece of junk from the dump, but it would work enough for her to get the, nyeh, _picture_.

She saw he was motioning her to sit next to him, so she climbed back on the couch to see what was in his hand.

“…first… this is a phone… we can use it to talk to other people from long distance, so if for example i needed to tell blue something… i can do that without looking for him. i can also type words to send to him if i don’t wanna bother him or i don’t need an answer right away.” He could see she seemed fascinated with it. He turned it so she could see the screen as he explained the next part. “…i can also do what’s called taking a picture…” He snapped a picture of himself and let her see what he did before doing the same to her.

Ali looked at the ‘pick chur’ Stretch took of her and stared at it with wide eye sockets, eyelights dilated in shock. Without blinking she looked at it intently before ‘booping’ it like she did with the ‘tee vee’. She looked back up at Stretch and tilted her head with a questioning ‘merr’.

“…yup… that’s you… now there’s special machines that can do something even better where instead of one picture it can copy… or what’s called ‘record’ movement. like if i waved and only took a picture, you’d only get me with my hand up… but a recording would show me bringing my hand up and waving like i was there. just like i can send my voice or a picture to someone else, the person making the recording can send that moving picture with sound to people’s tvs like you see there.” He pointed to the TV and hoped she understood enough of what he explained. “…did that help?”

It was still weird and confusing, but at least it wasn’t bothering her anymore… especially since at first she thought what she saw was actually trapped in the big black box with the window on the front. She nodded when she saw he was waiting nervously for her answer and was glad he smiled from it. She was confused no one on the ‘tee vee’ looked like her or the other Skeletons… just like she was confused by the one that was here yesterday that they called ‘un dine’.

“…i’m glad that helped… i know you’re prob’ly still confused but that was the simplest way i could think of to explain it to you without going anywhere…” He let out another yawn “…so wad’ya wanna do?”

She saw he was pretty tired, so she gently grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch with her teeth and tried to pull it over Stretch. She heard him chuckle as he carefully laid back down on his side while pulling the blanket over himself. With a happy trill, she grabbed her own special blanket and curled up in front of him where there was room. As she started to purr, she hoped it would help him fall asleep faster so he wouldn’t be so tired later.

>^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^<

Ali was startled awake by a strange sound… as she heard it again, she realized it was coming from Stretch. She remembered his ‘fone’ thing made odd sounds and started trying to wake him up.

Stretch partially registered his text alert going off and started to doze back off when something soft poked him in the face. He slowly opened an eye socket to see Ali trying to get his attention and slowly started to sit up… making sure he didn’t knock her off the couch by accident.

She gave him a happy trill as he started to wake up and made sure to shift so he could sit up. As soon as he did, she prodded at the pocket his phone was in as it made the sound again.

“…heh… that’s just a text message alert my phone is making…” Pulling his phone out and looking at the time first, he saw he’d actually slept a few hours and it was getting close to lunch time. _…huh… i act’lly slept pretty good for once…_ Checking his messages, he saw they were from Blue.

 **coolbluebro:** I FORGOT TO MENTION THIS MORNING THAT THERE ARE CANS OF TUNA IN THE CABINET

 **coolbluebro:** MISS ALI SEEMED TO ENJOY THE TUNA SANDWICHES I MADE FOR LUNCH YESTERDAY

 **coolbluebro:** THE RECIPIE I USED IS STUCK TO THE REFRIGERATOR SO YOU KNOW HOW TO MAKE THEM

 **coolbluebro:** LET ME KNOW IF YOU ARE ABLE TO GET MORE TARTAR SAUCE SO I CAN COME STRAIGHT HOME TONIGHT

 **honey4nothing:** k

 **honey4nothing:** can do

 **coolbluebro:** IF YOU NEED TO TAKE HER WITH YOU MAKE SURE SHE IS KEPT WARM

 **honey4nothing:** k

Putting his phone away, Stretch turned to Ali again. “…that’s just blue letting me know we have the stuff to make those tuna sandwiches you liked so you can have ‘em for lunch again.” He saw her perk up at that statement. “…i wonder what else ya like… maybe we can do a lil’ taste test to see…”

Ali followed him into the kitchen, wondering what he meant by that. She watched him pull random containers and packages from the ‘frig rate or’ and cabinets and place them on the table. He also pulled out a few metal things like what he used to feed her the eggs this morning. After he seemed done, he picked her up and sat down in the chair with her in his lap.

“…at some point i hope you’ll be comfy sitting in a chair by yourself… so… we know you defiantly like fish and tartar sauce…” He saw her nod quickly and he put a dab of honey on a spoon, letting her give it a lick and noticed her give a shudder. “…didn’t like the honey, huh?” Shake “…too sticky?” She nodded but gave him an odd look. “…was there another reason you didn’t like it?” Nod “…too sweet?” Nod “…so i’m gonna guess the donuts were too sweet too?”

She looked at him a little sheepish as her ears drooped a little and gave him a slight nod. She was pretty sure she would’ve liked them better if they weren’t as sweet.

“…y’now… blue can’t have too much sugar or else he has… issues… and muffet makes special ones for him that aren’t as sweet… i can let her know so next time she’ll make sure there’s special one’s for you too, so don’t feel bad, okay?” He saw her smile and nod as he grabbed the next thing. “…so ya don’t like stuff that’s too sweet… let’s try salty…” He opened a small bag of plain chisps and gave her one to try. She gently took it from his fingers and was a bit startled as it broke apart. “…guess i’ll have ta warn ya if somethin’s crunchy so ya know it’s gonna do that… did ya like it?”

She thought a moment about how to answer… she didn’t not like it, but she wasn’t that interested in it either.

Seeing her puzzled face he tried to answer for her “…if it’s something you’re okay with but it isn’t somethin’ you’d eat all the time you can answer with a shrug…” He saw her nod in understanding and then point a paw at the bag and shrug. “…okay… so you’re not crazy about salty stuff… or at least salty chisps…” He looked at the table for the next thing she could try. He already ruled out anything that was really sweet like most of the candy and cookies he and his dad had stashed away from Blue. He picked up a little red box with animals on the front… it said crackers but they always looked more like cookies to him. The important thing was that they weren’t very sweet like most cookies usually were so she might like them.

She watched him open a small box of weird shaped food… she was a little confused by the one that was kind of cat shaped, but tried it anyway. She blinked and nodded with a purr to let him know she liked it. It was a little sweet but not overwhelming like the honey or doughnuts.

“…thought you’d like that… when we’re done i’ll make sure we keep the snacks you like somewhere you can reach…”

>^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^<

By the time they were done, it was time for lunch, though Stretch wasn’t too hungry after finishing off what she didn’t like and couldn’t be saved for later. He made enough tuna salad for two sandwiches in case she still wanted more than one after all the ‘taste tests’. “…as soon as we’re done eating, we can go to the store an’ get more of the stuff ya liked…”

Ali let out a happy murr as she quickly ate her sandwich… unfortunately she ate so fast, she didn’t realize Stretch forgot to give her some milk first. Completely unaware of what might happen since she usually wasn’t given much food in the past.

Stretch set her down on the floor as he went to pour some milk when he’d realized he forgot it before sitting down. As he faced the fridge, he heard a strange high pitched sound behind him. Quickly turning around, he saw… or didn’t see Ali where he left her. “…ali? where’d ya go?” He heard a faint and worried mewl from the living room, but just as he stepped into the room, he heard the odd sound again. “…ali?” Looking around, he couldn’t see or hear her anywhere.

_Thunk_

The sound seemed to come from upstairs, possibly his room, as he shortcut up to get there quicker. He looked around the skeleton-less room in confusion. _…i know i heard something up here…_ Just as he stepped out of his room, he heard noise downstairs again. Taking another shortcut downstairs, he looked around quickly, trying to find the missing Skeleton. After hearing another plaintive mewl, he spun around to see a very confused and scared Ali curled up in a tight ball on the top of the bookshelf. Before he could make a move towards her, he heard the strange high-pitched sound come from her as her whole body twitched… right before she disappeared in a blink. Which is exactly what Stretch did… several times… before looking towards the kitchen when he heard the sound of a chair getting knocked over. _did she just… shortcut… after hiccupping?_

Ali couldn’t get the weird feeling to stop… like something was stuck in her false throat. She felt like she needed to drink something and hoped it would make it stop. She couldn’t understand what was happening… her body would flinch and she couldn’t help but squeeze her eye sockets shut every time the weird feeling happened. When she opened her eye sockets, she’d be in another room in the house. She could hear Stretch calling for her from the room she was just in as she realized she was in the kitchen. Spotting the cup of milk left on the table, she reluctantly hopped up onto one of the chairs. She lapped up the milk as fast as she could while hoping she wouldn’t get in trouble for being at the table.

Stretch popped into the kitchen, hoping he could catch her in time before she disappeared again. He relaxed a bit when he realized she was lapping up the milk as quickly as possible. _hope that stops her hiccups… it’s my fault i didn’t get it for her before she ate…_ “…hey ali… you okay now?”

She startled a bit as Stretch spoke to her from behind. Hopping off the chair and darting under the table, she curled in on herself in shame. Was she going to be punished for being bad? She needed to drink something to stop the strange thing from happening… she didn’t know how she kept moving from room to room…

Seeing that Ali was starting to panic as she shook under the table, he slowly crawled underneath to start comforting her. “…it’s okay… it’s just me… you’re safe…” He hoped if he kept talking to her calmly, he could get to her before her panic got any worse. She was already starting to hyperventilate and was looking around wildly. He gently scooped her up and held her close while carefully making his way back to the couch with her to get her blanket. Wrapping her up in a cozy _purr_ ito, he could tell she was quickly calming down.

As she started to calm down, she realized it was because she was wrapped up in her favorite blanket and Stretch was talking to her quietly. That and she was close to that safe feeling thing that she finally noticed where it came from. It seemed to come from Stretch’s chest and she wondered if she was sensing his Soul since she thought that’s the area where **_he_** always pulled it out from. She began purring a little since she was happy he wasn’t mad at her.

“…you okay now?” He saw a little nod as she looked up at him. “do ya know what happened?”

Ali didn’t know if he was asking about the weird feeling or how she ended up in different rooms. Placing a ‘paw’ on her mouth, she shook her head, then she pointed to the top of the bookshelf and shook her head again. She hoped he would understand just how much she didn’t understand about any of it.

Stretch watched her closely so he could decipher what she was wordlessly saying. “…so the… squeaky noise and yer body twitchin’ like that is called ‘hiccups’. it can happen if you eat too fast or eat something really dry without drinking something with it. that was kinda my fault… i forgot ta get you some milk before you started eating… didn’ think we could get them _tibia_ honest… guess a lazy _bones_ like me just doesn’t eat that fast… i’ll haveta ask dad about that one…” The last part was mostly mumbled to himself.

Nodding to let him know that she at least somewhat understood about the ‘hick ups’ and how to prevent them… she waited for him to explain the next part. She still didn’t understand how she ended up on top of the bookshelf, Stretch’s room, and back to the kitchen.

“…now the other thing that happened is what i like to call a ‘shortcut’…” Making sure she was calm enough to leave on the couch by herself, he stood up and took a quick shortcut to the other side of the room. “…do you know how to do that?” He saw her look at him wide eye socketed and look back and forth between where he was originally and where he was now. _…guess that tells me she had no clue what happened or how she did it…_ “…so i take it you had no clue you were doing that, huh?” He saw he shake her head, still looking shocked. “…mebby when your magic levels get back to normal, i’ll try and see if it’s _paws_ ible ta show ya how to do it on _purr_ pose… usin’ too much magic when it’s too low might _claws_ ya to be _cat_ atonic…” He finished with a wink and pointing a finger gun at her with a grin.

Ali’s bones rattled a bit at that information. She still didn’t understand how or why it happened, but if Stretch didn’t seem too worried about it then it must be okay.

Stretch tapped his chin with a phalange for a few moments while looking at the worried little skeleton on the couch. “…y’know… that might explain how ya kept getting in my room last night… ya might’ve been havin’ a nightmare or terror an’ yer magic’s fear charged reaction was ta send ya somewhere… or ta someone that made ya feel safe…” He saw the ashamed look on her face and quickly shortcut back on the couch. Giving her a hug, he tried to stop her from panicking “…it’s okay… i’m not mad… just surprised that i’m not the only monster in the underground that can do that trick… not many know i can do that so don’t go tellin’ anybody…” He finished with a smirk. … _now i don’t need the cameras…_

With a slight deadpanned stare and roll of her eyelights, Ali gave him a huff and a head-butt to the sternum. She ignored his chuckles and curled up under her blanket to let him know how she felt about that. It still made her sad that she couldn’t talk like a normal Monster.

At first he thought she was just pretending to act annoyed until he realized what he said. “…crap… i’m sorry… i didn’ mean it like that… i promise i’ll figure out a way fer you ta communicate… do ya still wanna go with me to the store to get some stuff for ya? we can get the snacks ya liked and more tartar sauce~ ” He saw her perk up and peek out from under the blanket. “…i take that as a yes then?” With a chuckle, he walked over to a small closet and dug around for something warmer for Ali to wear outside.

Ali crept close to see what he was doing in the tiny looking room. It didn’t look big enough for anything but standing in, but it had some type of clothes hanging up in it, shoes on the floor and a small shelf right above that with a few boxes.

“…it’s cold and snowy outside and i promised blue i’d make sure ta keep ya warm when we went out. we might find somethin’ better for you ta wear at the shop but you need somethin’ to get ya there… i don’t always take a shortcut everywhere…” He knew if Blue was here he’d be making a remark or at least rolling his eyelights at him. “…i’ll prob’ly just carry ya anyway so ya don’ get lost…” Blue was the smallest of the three of them, but he didn’t think any of his boots would fit right with her paw-like feet. He spotted a few random mittens, am old pair of legwarmers that Blue wore to work out in when he was younger, and a coat that was never donated after Blue grew out of it… not that he ever really wore one anyway. He made sure to tell her what each item was as he tossed them out of the closet.

Puzzled by the strange clothing that was tossed on the floor, Ali carefully poked at it a bit. She heard Stretch chuckle again as he carefully covered most of her legs with the warm cloth. ‘Leg warmers’ was a good name for them. She tried not to react to him sliding the ‘mit ins’ on her paw-like hands and feet. She thought the small floppy part might be for one of her phalanges, but she didn’t want to chance tearing them if she tried. She twitched her paws a bit since it wasn’t very comfortable and tried ignore the chuckles at her reactions.

It was hard for Stretch not to laugh at her as she shook her paws a bit from the mittens. After he zippered her up in the coat and put the hood up, he opened the front door. Before he could pick her up, a gust of wind blew some snow in her face. She jerked back with her eye sockets wide and her eyelights dilated as she quickly smacked at the offending snow on the other side of the doorway. _…guess she never saw snow before… this is gonna be interestin’…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here is some art of the poor little skellie
> 
> [first attempt with Picrew](https://sta.sh/0hp9ew683n6)
> 
> [second attempt with Gacha Life](https://sta.sh/222ny5kmwd1y?edit=1)
> 
> This one was done by my friend [Shimo](https://www.deviantart.com/shimokolade) on Deviant Art  
> [Ali Katt](https://www.deviantart.com/shimokomoriya/art/Alikatt-836957953)


	8. shopping with a PURRpose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stretch wishes he could show Ali the town with SNOW problems, he's gonna try WEATHER she's happy about it or not..

Stretch struggled with the urge to bust up laughing from Ali’s purely disgusted expression after the unexpected gust of snow smacked her in her face. The annoyed swat at the snow on the doorstep nearly pushed him over the edge. “…that… that’s called ‘snow’… it happens when it’s really cold and also why this place is called ‘snowdin’… it’s cold, wet, and there’s lots of _cool_ stuff you can do with it. since i don’t think you’re too happy about that little… introduction… i can carry ya there _snow_ problem.” With a wink, he picked her up as she continued to glare and quietly hiss at the snow and headed out the door.

As she was picked up and carried out the door, Ali was glad Stretch put all the warm clothing on her. It felt weird at first with all of it on her… **_he_** never bothered with putting _anything_ on her… pets and… _things_ don’t wear clothes… only people… except Stretch, Blue, and Dings told her that she wasn’t a pet or a thing… she was like them…

Looking down at Ali, Stretch noticed she seemed lost in thought. “…hey, ali…” He saw her twitch and look up at him in question. “…this is the town of snowdin… ‘cause of all the snow… everyone’s pretty _chill_ here so you should have _snow_ problem with the locals…” He wasn’t sure if she’d understand his puns… though it wasn’t going to stop him from making them anyway…

Ali still glared at the ‘ss no’ as she looked around a little. There were a few strange looking monsters that were wandering around and sometimes stopping to wave at Stretch. They all had strange… skin? Hair? She wasn’t sure what it was called or what kind of Monsters they were. She was glad she was mostly covered up though… she could feel the cold air where she wasn’t covered enough, but the rest was nice and warm. She snuggled a little more in the coat as she looked around at everything they passed. Before she knew it, Stretch had walked into one of the buildings and pulled her hood down so she could see better. It was nice and warm and she looked around as she sniffed the air, taking in the good smelling food somewhere nearby.

Stretch chuckled as he saw her react to the smell of the fresh baked treats the shopkeeper always made each day for the children… and those with a sweet tooth. He spotted the shopkeeper bending over behind the counter as she finished putting out a fresh batch. “…hey ‘ressa… got somebody new for you ta meet…” Before he could say anything further, he felt Ali tense up and let out a small hiss before squirming so quickly he nearly dropped her. “…what are you…” Before he could react, as he was partially crouched down from her antics, she wriggled her way up under the bottom of his hoodie and curled up. He was glad he had a tank top on under the sweatshirt… that and since he was so tall, he had to get one several sizes too big for his boney body. He quickly moved a hand under her so she wouldn’t slide back out the bottom, careful not to block her frantically twitching tail that was the only thing sticking out.

Dogressa brought a paw up to her muzzle as she tried not to laugh at the lanky Skeleton’s startled expression. “Never a dull moment with you is there.” She didn’t miss his sigh as he rolled his eyelights at her while she pulled out a stool for him to sit down on. “Howsabout you take a seat while your friend calms down. Ya think they’d like a Cinnapuppy?”

As he sat down and shifted Ali so they both would be more comfortable, he thought a moment. “…she’s not too crazy about things that’re real sweet, but we can always try… if she don’t like it… it’s not like it’ll go to _waist_ …” He finished with a wink. “…i guess i didn’t think about her reaction to you…” He scratched his cheekbone and tried to calm Ali down.

As Dogressa walked back over with a warm Cinnapuppy, she looked at the shaking lump. “I don’t understand why she’d react like that… I’d never hurt a Soul.” As she held the treat close to Stretch, she saw that the little one was calming down. She tried not to laugh as she saw that the little one was trying to poke their head out of the top of the hoodie, even though there wasn’t enough room to do so.

Stretch tried not to laugh too hard as she kept trying to look out the top of his sweatshirt. “…stop… nyeh… that tickles… you’re not gonna fit that way… nyeh!” Giving up on trying to explain through his laughing, he sighed and lifted the bottom of his hoodie to fully uncover her… again glad he was wearing something underneath.

Ali let out a startled _mew_ as her hiding spot was unexpectedly uncovered. She looked around only to see the huge dog again, though she froze when she realized the dog was holding out something to her that smelled good. She glanced back and forth between the food and the dog’s face as her ears swiveled back and forth.

Pulling his shirt back down to normal, but still keeping a hand on Ali in case she bolted, he watched her reaction. “…ali… this is dogressa… she runs this shop and makes delicious treats called cinnapuppies… dunno if it’ll be too sweet for ya, but you can try some if you’d like…” He saw she was still hesitant on what to do, so he tore a small piece off and popped it in his mouth, making sure Ali saw what he was doing. He took another piece off and held it out for her in hopes she’d at least try it.

She watched Stretch happily try a piece of the food and then hold another piece out for her. She gave it a little sniff before gently eating it out of his hand. She blinked a few times and tilted her head as she felt the food dissolve in her mouth like it was melting. It was a little sweeter than she’d like… like the ‘doh nuts’… but there was another flavor to it that she really liked. She licked her mouth and quietly purred as she looked up at Stretch with large eyelights in hopes that she could have more.

With a chuckle, he accepted the rest of the cinnapuppy and let her eat the rest of it. “…guess that means she liked it… too bad… i was looking forward to eating it if she didn’t.”

Shaking her head, Dogressa pulled out another one for the smirking Skeleton as she finally got a look at the cat-like Monster bundled up in his lap. “Now I see why she was afraid of me… cats are usually afraid of dogs… just like I’m sure you were nervous around us Dogs when you were little since we like chewing on bones.”

Ali calmed down a little as she watched Stretch roll his eyelights and hide a faint orange blush he had on his face. So if he was afraid of dogs when he was little… he definitely wasn’t any more if was joking with her and getting food from her. She still didn’t want out of Stretch’s arms though…

Stretch saw she was a bit calmer now, though her tail still twitched nervously and her ears swiveled around listening for danger. “…ali’s not used to other monsters much… she’s not from around here… i kinda saved her from a bad situation and dad took her in… she’s like les and grey…” He knew she’d understand what he was talking about. Lesser Dog and his brother Greater Dog could only speak in Doggish and not Common, though they understood it completely. All the other Dog Monsters could understand them and he was able to learn the language from hanging around them long enough. Especially considering at least a third of the population of Snowdin consisted of Dog Monsters. His dad could understand them too, though he was pretty sure Blue couldn’t… he was a bit too energetic to sit still long enough to learn. He’d rather spend his time play fighting, practicing his bone attacks, and getting ‘special training’ from Captain Alphys.

“Ah… unfortunately I never grew up around any Cat Monsters so I never had the chance to learn their language. By the way, now I understand why Blue was asking about cats yesterday. Did you like the tuna, little one?”

Ali let out a happy meow and nodded her head as she licked her mouth again.

Stretch laughed along with Dogressa as he stood back up, careful not to jostle her as he started picking up the food she liked from the shelves. Dogressa followed along with a basket since he was trying to shop onehanded. “…definitely need to pick up more of that… and all the tartar sauce ya have in stock…”

As she looked around the store at all the colorful packages, Ali perked up again at the mention of her favorite treat.

“I take it she likes it?” Dogressa asked with a grin as she saw the reaction that word caused.

“…like me and my honey… i had her try some stuff at home so i knew what snacks and stuff she might like… she doesn’t like stuff too sweet and she likes crunchy more than crispy stuff… she had some trouble eating chisps for example… she really likes those cracker-cookies that look like animals that come in a red box and those little tiny cheese crackers…”

Dogressa made sure to put those items in the basket after putting all the tartar sauce she had on the counter. “Do you think she would like this?” She showed him a variety of packages with small fish shaped crackers of different flavors.

Ali’s eyelights dilated in excitement at the look of the different fishy crackers… some even had more colors than she knew the names of. She looked up at Stretch and mewled repeatedly until a selection of them were put in the basket.

Stretch laughed at her loud agreement to the new snacks before looking at the full basket. “…i think this is enough snacks for now… she also needs something to wear… muffet helped with what she has on now, but she’s gonna need more than one thing… that and winter stuff that’ll fit her better… did the best i could with what we had…”

“Hmmm… I don’t think I have anything in stock right now that would fit her any better than what’s she’s wearing right now, but I can keep an eye out and ask around if any of the pups grew out of anything… do you know what size she wears and does she need stripes?” Dogressa asked as she started to ring up their purchases.

“…we really don’t know… undyne didn’t get too far with the checkup before ali woke up and started panicking… like i said… i don’t think she’s seen any other monster types before… she was okay with me and the fam since she’s skeleton-like… i don’t see her being scared of cat monsters either…” He saw her nod in agreement. “…i’ll have ta ask muffet about the size since she’s the one that dressed her… now i just need some way ta mark a cabinet for her snacks so no one gets into them by mistake…”

Dogressa held up her paw as she thought of something. She pulled out a box with large stickers, about the size of a plate, and set it on the counter. “Someone found a couple of packages of these… the label showed they are for decorating the wall in a pup… I mean child’s room and I think I remember seeing a cat one…”

Stretch wasn’t surprised that there wasn’t any animals left that were similar to the Monster types that lived in Snowdin.

“The packages had random animals in them so it was easier to just open them and let folks dig through it for the ones they wanted. It’s been picked through enough that I forgot I still had it… ah… I found it.” She pulled out a large decal sticker with a cute cartoony cat on it.

“… _purr_ fect… i’ll take it…” He paid for all of his purchases, glad nothing needed to be refrigerated, and put it all in his inventory. “…you okay ta go to one more place?” He saw her nod before he pulled the hood back over her head. “…we’re gonna go to a good friend of mine’s shop… she makes those donuts you had yesterday and this morning.”

Ali nodded her head, remembering what she was told about the special ‘doh nuts’ that weren’t as sweet he was going to ask her about. As he made his way through the town, she continued to look around at all the different looking Monsters. She saw a few more Dogs walking around, but they were small and doing things with the ‘ss no’. One was a little bigger and was walking with a very small Dog on some kind of rope.

“…hey les, hey grey…” He heard the two Dog Monsters ‘boof’ at him in greeting as they passed by. He never understood why Les walked his smaller bro like a pet dog. Maybe monsters that couldn’t speak Common were more instinctual… he’d have to ask Undyne about that next time they had a chat. It might explain some of her behaviors as well…

As they continued on, Ali saw two Monsters wearing long black clothes with hoods covering their faces and carrying long metal poles with big sharp looking things on top. They looked scary to her and she mewled and pawed at Stretch to get his attention.

Stretch heard her make a noise like she was afraid of something and looked at what she was staring at. He quickly realized she was scared of the twins with their battle axes out and the hoods of their black cloaks pulled up. “rose… lilac… what’s _hop_ pening?”

“Hello, Stretch…”

“Stretch, hello…”

“…ali, the pink rabbit is rose and the purple rabbit is her twin lilac… they’re members of the lapine unit of the royal guard… they’re in charge of keeping snowdin safe…” He was glad the Rabbit Monsters pulled their hoods down so Ali could see them better.

“What are you doing here…”

“…and not at your station?”

“…i got the day off… my dad pretty much adopted this little monster i found that didn’t have a family… i’m showin’ her the town… she’s like les and grey, but unfortunately nobody around here speaks cat.”

“Poor thing, but you’re in good…”

“…hands with the Skeleton family.”

“…if anything bad happens and me, blue, or dad ain’t around, you can go to the buni to keep you safe.” He waved goodbye to the twin guards and stopped just outside Muffet’s shop.

Ali looked at the place Stretch stopped outside of… it was tall like the Skeleton’s house, but a lot wider, and she could see inside from all the glass wall things… windows? It looked pretty with things that were the same color as her ecto-fur and the glowing words far above the door. She was a little puzzled by the little black… dots moving around near the people sitting inside.

Stretch noticed her curiosity and thought it might be a good idea to give her a head’s up before entering. “…this place is owned and run by a spider monster named muffet… she also has tiny spider monsters working for her… none of them will hurt you, but they may get close just to see who you are. she’s the one that helped me when i found you and gave you the clothes you’re wearing. i know she’ll be happy ta see you’re okay and let her know about your sweets preference…” He hoped that was enough to keep her calm as they walked into the Pastry Parlor and Bar.

Clinging as close to Stretch as she could, Ali looked around at the pretty room. She remembered that the clothes she was wearing was close to the colors of this… shop? Store? She saw other Monsters smile and greet Stretch as they walked to a long wooden counter.

Stopping a moment in thought, Stretch veered off from the bar where he usually sat and went to a nearby booth. The seat was more like a couch so Ali might not panic when her set her down. He noticed a few curious Spiderlings drop down to check on them… he wondered if any of them were there when Muffet was helping Ali.

Ali tensed a moment as Stretch set her down on the slightly squishy seat. It was kind of like the ‘couch’ she was on before at the Skeleton’s house, but it was next to a high table like in the ‘kitchen’. She glanced at Stretch to see if it was okay for her to be sitting there and saw him smile. She held still as he took off the warm outside clothes that were on her and set them down next to her.

Stretch tried not to laugh at how short she was sitting in the booth. _…forgot she’s usually on my lap so she ends up sitting higher at the table…_ He folded up the coat to make a higher perch for her to sit on. Once he moved her onto the small pile, she could reach the tabletop a little better than before. Looking towards the bar, he spotted Muffet and waved her over when she had a moment to look over in their direction.

Muffet walked over with a grin as she saw her favorite customer and started signing. “ _Good afternoon, Papyrus dear. It’s a bit later than your regular visit for lunch. You usually sit at the bar…_ ” She stopped when she spotted someone sitting next to him. Her smile grew as soon as she realized who it was. She didn’t notice that that someone was a bit nervous at first as she started signing at a rapid pace. “ _I am quite happy to see you doing well, little one! I saw the adorable pictures Papyrus and his father sent me of you enjoying my treats!” ahu hu hu~_

“…slow down muffet… she doesn’t understand sign so i’m gonna haveta translate for her…” He saw Muffet nod though she looked a little let down. He made sure to speak quietly so no-one would be able to eavesdrop easily. “…ali… this is muffett… muffett… this is ali… she apparently never had a real name so that is what we decided on… she can’t speak common but she can understand it… if you have a moment to go somewhere… ‘quieter’… i can tell ya more…”

Muffet nodded in understanding and pointed up to ceiling, letting them know that she was okay with going upstairs to her living quarters to discuss things more privately. _“Would the two of you like something first?”_

“…usual for me and for her… she liked the donuts, but i found out she thought they were a little too sweet for her, so maybe something more like the ones i get for blue… a little sweeter than that might be okay, too… and milk, but in a bowl if that’s not too much ta ask for… she has trouble… holding things…” He hoped he wasn’t pushing things, knowing Muffet was not always the most… accommodating Monster at times.

Muffet nodded with a soft smile before heading off to personally fill their orders. She didn’t want to disappoint her new customer after all… it had absolutely _nothing_ to do with the motherly instincts that she felt towards the small Monster…

>^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^<

Stretch was finishing up his bottle of honey… non-alcoholic since it was a bit early for that and he wasn’t alone… when Muffet walked up to them again. “…we’re ready when you are…”

Muffet nodded as she had some of her Spiderlings take the dishes away. “ _Did she like that flavor of donut better?”_

“…hey, ali… muffet wants ta know if ya liked how that one tasted…” He chuckled as he saw her nodding her head rapidly and mewing happily. “…i take that as a solid ‘yes’…” He didn’t think he ever saw a bigger smile on Muffet’s face until now. He saw her motion for them to follow her as he scooped Ali up along with her winter gear.

As she lead them upstairs, she was glad that the little one… Ali… had liked the donuts she made for her. She had made them only a touch sweeter than the ones she made special for the younger Skeleton brother. He always seemed naturally energetic and everyone involved was glad he rather disliked the taste of coffee. She felt bad that as much as her favorite customer loved sweets, he had to hide them and couldn’t eat them in front of his brother. Except for his honey addiction… the ball of energy would never touch the sticky substance so he could get away with anything made from or tasting like it. It was baked goods that were normally high in sugar like cookies, brownies, cakes and donuts that needed to be kept safe from him.

Ali shyly looked around as Stretch carried her in one arm while he had her ‘outside clothes’ in the other. They were following the pretty spider lady, now that she wasn’t as afraid of her, and wished she was able to thank her for helping her. She couldn’t understand the spider lady’s… Muffet’s… language or the weird movements that she made with her hands that Stretch somehow understood. She wished she could ‘talk’ with her hands like Muffet, but she knew her hands didn’t work right for something like that. There was only one thing her hands were good for and she never wanted to be forced to do that ever again.

Stretch noticed that Ali seemed a lot less nervous and was looking around Muffet’s apartment with her little ecto-ears and tail twitching in curiosity. He thought he could hear her sniffing the air… it was possible she remembered her short time here subconsciously. Granted her only interaction would’ve been smell and sound since she wasn’t exactly awake for her last visit. Fresh baked pastries was always a good smell to come across, awake or not.

As she waited for Stretch and Ali to get comfortable on the small couch she had, she sat down on her own chair. “ _Well Papyrus, dear… how is she doing and what did you find out about her.”_

Worried he might upset Ali with some of the information, Stretch thought it would be safer to sign back to Muffet. _“…we still don’t know who she escaped from or how she got to where i found her, but apparently they were a doctor of some sort… we’re trying to avoid using that word around her and the next time undyne tries to check her out, to make sure she isn’t wearing a lab coat… she kinda freaked out from seeing that… it looks like they did some kind of experiments or modifications to her… her tail is real, but her legs were changed to be digitigrade_ _like a cat and the wound on her neck was done to permanently stop her from talking… she literally was treated like a cat… no getting on furniture… only eat when told to and only what is given… afraid of food getting taken away…”_

Muffet was trying not to show how emotional she was getting… she didn’t want to upset the poor girl who had no idea what their discussion was about. “ _That is horrible… that sorry excuse for a Monster better hope I do not get my webs on them.”_ She couldn’t help but to look at the ugly scar left on what would be her throat of she was a more fleshy Monster.

Stretch only smiled and held in his full body shudder as he remembered the last time someone had the bright idea to cross her. _“…i had her try some different foods before heading to the shop… got a bunch of things for her to eat that’ll go in a cabinet just for her that she can reach whenever she wants to… i don’t think she was trained to use any magic either… also she gets scared if someone moves too fast near her… probably afraid she’ll get punished… she also seems to be scared of anyone getting too close to her hands… from what i can tell, the tips of her phalanges… fingers… are razor sharp so she keeps her hands… paws… curled up so she doesn’t hurt anyone…”_

_“Thank you for warning me about that… I would not like to upset her by accident over something so easily avoided!”_

He was trying to think if there was anything else he needed to tell her before he got anymore distracted. “…oh! _and if you can tell me what size of clothes seemed to fit her or her measurements so i can pass that to dogressa… she needs that so she can check to see if any of the pups around town have any old clothes that will fit her…”_

 _“I can do that for you… as a matter of fact, I found more adorable outfits for the little dear that I do not have any use for any longer. Give me a moment and I shall fetch them for you.”_ She hurried off to where she had a few bags of clothing ready for their next meeting. Thinking about the poor girl’s neck again, she searched for a few fashionable scarves and wide ribbons that would match the outfits. After she was done searching, she walked back into the living room with paper shopping bags in four of her hands. Setting them down, she pulled out a lovely ribbon that would match her current outfit. She carefully tied it in a bow on the side as she smiled at her, hoping to show her that there was nothing to be afraid of. She held a mirror in one of her hands so Ali could see what she was doing as well as the finished product.

Ali wasn’t sure what Muffet was doing and it scared her at first when she brought something that looked like something to tie her up. She tensed up as it was brought up to her neck, but Stretch seemed calm and Muffet had a happy smile on her face. Then she saw the glass thing that showed what she looked like… especially after the pretty colored thing was put around her neck, covering that ugly cut on her neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here is some art of the poor little skellie
> 
> [first attempt with Picrew](https://sta.sh/0hp9ew683n6)
> 
> [second attempt with Gacha Life](https://sta.sh/222ny5kmwd1y?edit=1)
> 
> This one was done by my friend [Shimo](https://www.deviantart.com/shimokolade) on Deviant Art  
> [Ali Katt](https://www.deviantart.com/shimokomoriya/art/Alikatt-836957953)

**Author's Note:**

> don't FURRget to show my other two stories some love... 
> 
> [**A Classic PUNder TAIL**](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23332546/chapters/55892905)  
>  The Monsters had been on the Surface for a few years now, but it wasn't perfect. Sans didn't think he'd ever get used to so many Humans, but his little brother was happy. That was good enough for him. Now if he'd only stop messing with that stupid machine before he Dusts himself... too bad he never takes his own advice...
> 
> [ **A PUNderFell TAIL**](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23479243/chapters/56292925)  
>  It may be a ‘kill or be killed’ world, but there was a secret that only the Skeleton brothers discovered that was much more important. Appearances and reputation were the most powerful things a Monster could have… and the two of them had that in spades. Now if only Red could get that pile of scrap metal to work and possibly get them somewhere safe... at least he hoped that's what it did... not getting blown up in the process would be good too... oops...


End file.
